


I Need You Closer

by seaunicorn



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Internet Friends AU, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-14 11:13:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 46,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4562451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaunicorn/pseuds/seaunicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke and Lexa meet on an anonymous chat website and become fast friends. Unfortunately, they live on opposite ends of the country.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot but now I'm on chapter four and not stopping anytime soon, so....yeah.

**You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!**

**Stranger:** asl

 **You:** what

 **Stranger:** age sex location

**You have disconnected.**

\--

**You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!**

**Stranger:** u horny

 **Stranger:** asl

**You have disconnected.**

\--

**You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!**

**Stranger:** hey

 **Stranger:** I’m sam

 **You:** lexa

 **Stranger:** nice

 **Stranger:** asl

**You have disconnected.**

\--

**You’re now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!**

**You:** if you say asl I swear to GOD

 **Stranger:** oh my god are you normal

 **You:** define normal

 **Stranger:** touche

 **Stranger:** so

 **Stranger:** stranger

 **Stranger:** what brings you to an anonymous chat site tonight

 **You:** i don’t know

 **You:** drunk, bored, heartbroken, or a combination of the three

 **Stranger:** rough day?

 **You:** you could say that

 **Stranger:** do you wanna talk about it?

 **You:** not really

 **Stranger:** we could talk about something else

 **Stranger:** I’m Clarke

 **You:** Lexa

 **Stranger:** it’s nice to meet you lexa

 **Stranger:** so

 **Stranger:** what’s ur favorite cheese

 **Stranger:** mine’s gouda

 **You:** cheese?

 **Stranger:** just tryin to break the ice

 **Stranger:** like an overweight polar bear

 **You:** or global warming

 **Stranger:** wow

 **Stranger:** too soon

 **Stranger:** you have a very morbid sense of humor, don’t you lexa?

 **You:** I suppose I do

 **Stranger:** at least you can admit it

 **Stranger:** hey

 **Stranger:** do you wanna hear the worst joke to tell an orphan

 **Stranger:** lexaaaaa

 **You:** sure

 **Stranger:** knock knock

 **You:** who’s there?

 **Stranger:** not your parents

 **Stranger:** yea it’s bad

 **Stranger:** my friend Jasper told it to me

 **Stranger:** he also has a dark sense of humor

 **Stranger:** shit

 **Stranger:** I just realized I have no idea who you are or whether or not you are in fact an orphan

 **Stranger:** shit if you are an orphan I’m so sorry

 **Stranger:** lexa?

 **Stranger:** crap

 **You:** Clarke, I am not an orphan

 **Stranger:** oh thank god

 **You:** the reason I didn’t say anything is because I just spat my water all over my computer screen

 **Stranger:** I KNEW YOU’D LIKE IT

 **You:** it was quite funny

 **Stranger:** so lexa

 **You:** yes Clarke?

 **Stranger:** besides your extremely dark sense of humor what do you like to do for fun?

 **You:** I enjoy select forms of torture and sharpening my knife collection

 **Stranger:** ha ha

 **You:** ok fine, I don’t sharpen my knives. They are antiques

 **Stranger:** wait do u seriously collect knives

 **You:** honestly though I like to read and listen to music, and I play guitar a little

 **You:** I also like documentaries

 **You:** and musicals

 **Stranger:** YOU PLAY GUITAR??? THAT’S BADASS

 **Stranger:** (also I’m still concerned about you not answering the knife question)

 **You:** yes, I’ve been playing for ten years. My mother was in a band so she taught me

 **Stranger:** that’s so cool!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could play an instrument

 **You:** it’s not too hard. Anyone can play if they give it a shot

 **Stranger:** I tried drums once I was abysmal

 **Stranger:** I have terrible rhythm

 **Stranger:** I’ll just stick with painting

 **You:** you paint?

 **Stranger:** yeah. And draw a little

 **Stranger:** it’s fun

 **You:** what kinds of things do you paint?

 **Stranger:** anything that peaks my interest really. Scenery, animals, people, places, things….

 **You:** do you have any pictures of your art?

 **Stranger:** …..why?

 **You:** if it’s ok with you, I would like to see some

 **Stranger:** …………..

 **You:** if not that’s perfectly all right

 **Stranger:** hold on

 **Stranger:** http://40.media.tumblr.com/13292cc626a29a796dd1c922db985fde/tumblr_nrcy1meVvf1r2aobgo3_540.png

 **Stranger:** it’s not like good or anything

 **You:** where is that?

 **Stranger:** it’s my dad’s house

 **You:** Clarke, that is beautiful

 **You:** you are very talented

 **Stranger:** thanks

 **You:** what made you want to paint your dad’s house?

 **Stranger:** well my parents split up when I was seven

 **Stranger:** I always got along way better with my dad than with my mom so I guess I just have more happy memories there

 **Stranger:** and then he died about a year ago so I wanted to paint something to help me remember him

 **Stranger:** god sorry you probably don’t wanna hear about my depressing life haha

 **You:** don’t apologize, I asked

 **You:** I’m sorry about your father, he was probably wonderful

 **Stranger:** he is

 **Stranger:** was

 **You:** is

 **You:** as long as you carry on his memory, he still is wonderful

 **Stranger:** thanks

 **Stranger:** :)

 **Stranger:** crap wait you were sad about something I didn’t mean to bring you down with my problems I’m so sorry

 **You:** Clarke, stop apologizing

 **You:** I mean you shared with me

 **You:** I can share with you

 **Stranger:** you don’t have to

 **You:** no I want to, I think I’m ready now

 **You:** my girlfriend just broke up with me

 **You:** she is moving to another country and long distance never works

 **You:** so it makes sense

 **You:** but when you’ve been together almost two years it still hurts

 **You:** and the worst part is I saw it coming

 **You:** from the moment she told me she was moving I knew

 **You:** but she still didn’t do it until less than a week before the move

 **You:** and now she is gone and she didn’t even come say goodbye

 **You:** and I’m still not used to the idea of doing anything without her

 **You:** sorry I’m also a little drunk right now and probably would not have shared that if sober

 **Stranger:** that is the most you’ve spoken this whole conversation

 **Stranger:** also you don’t type like ur drunk you must hold your liquor very well

 **Stranger:** shit sorry that was insensitive. I’m sorry about your girlfriend

 **You:** ex girlfriend

 **Stranger:** yeah. Sorry. That really sucks man

 **You:** yeah, it really does suck

 **Stranger:** but you know what doesn’t suck

 **You:** what?

 **Stranger:** DOG VIDEOS

 **Stranger:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5PLngd2WN0

 **Stranger:** you do like dogs right

 **Stranger:** ur not a cat person right

 **Stranger:** I might have to unfriend you if ur a cat person

 **You:** no Clarke I am not a cat person

 **You:** that video is adorable! Thank you for sharing, Clarke

 **You:** I saved it for future sad days

 **You:** my dog actually does that thing where she rolls on her back when she is guilty

 **You:** she pooped on the porch last week and she did that

 **You:** I think she does it to be cute so we will rub her tummy but I see right through her

 **You:** I rub her tummy anyway though

 **Stranger:** YOU HAVE A DOG????

 **Stranger:** PICS????

 **You:** http://36.media.tumblr.com/293de7691949f4a3eb64f07e2412cb58/tumblr_n63843jtby1qgu2wio1_500.jpg

 **You:** she’s a black lab her name is Minerva but we call her Minnie

 **Stranger:** SHE’S SO CUTE I’M GONNA CRY

 **Stranger:** Minerva like mcgonagall or like the roman goddess

 **You:** ….both

 **Stranger:** wow you’re a nerd

 **You:** hey you understood my references

 **Stranger:** very true

 **Stranger:** in my defense, harry potter is awesome, and my friend’s brother is a mythology nerd

 **You:** or you’re just a secret nerd

 **Stranger:** fine but you can’t go around spreading that

 **Stranger:** I have a reputation to uphold

 **You:** your secret is safe with me :)

 **You:** do you have any pets, Clarke?

 **Stranger:** my pet rock

 **Stranger:** nah my mom doesn’t like animals so she won’t let me get one

 **Stranger:** as soon as I move out though I’m getting a puppy

 **Stranger:** if I get a boy dog I’ll name it Pablo

 **Stranger:** and if I get a girl dog I’ll name it Hermione

 **You:** you are going to get sick of having such a long name for your dog

 **You:** you will probably end up shortening that to hermy and I don’t know if you want that

 **Stranger:** fine

 **Stranger:** if I get a girl dog I’ll name her lexa

 **Stranger:** after the lovely, drunk stranger I met on the internet

 **You:** thank you, Clarke

 **Stranger:** for naming my hypothetical dog after you?

 **You:** no

 **You:** for cheering me up tonight

 **Stranger:** well people do say I am a joy to be around

 **You:** do they really?

 **Stranger:** no but I have an over-inflated ego

 **You:** why am I not surprised

 **Stranger:** most people aren’t

 **Stranger:** ANYWAY, I saw that picture of Minnie was a tumblr link

 **Stranger:** do you perchance have a tumblr

 **Stranger:** because I perchance have a tumblr

 **You:** I do!

 **Stranger:** I mean I have two I have an art blog it’s clarkesart which it’s kinda boring

 **Stranger:** but my party tumblr is princessclarke

 **Stranger:** don’t laugh at the name it’s a long story

 **Stranger:** anyway I thought maybe we could follow each other

 **Stranger:** because I have totally enjoyed this conversation

 **Stranger:** and I mean I can’t speak for you but I think you enjoyed it too

 **Stranger:** I promise a plethora of dog videos on my blog

 **Stranger:** I will even send you some personally

 **Stranger:** lexa?

 **Stranger:** hello?

 **Stranger:** omg I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by like asking for your tumblr did i?

 **Stranger:** I know this is supposed to be like anonymous but you seem really cool

 **Stranger:** crap I’m so sorry I’m an idiot

 **Stranger:** I hope you’re not mad because I did really like talking to you

 **Stranger:** honestly the best anonymous conversation I’ve ever had

 **Stranger:** not that I’ve had many

 **Stranger:** anyway

 **Stranger:** it’s getting late

 **Stranger:** I guess I should probably go

 **Stranger:** I do have school in the morning

 **Stranger:** but honestly I had the best time talking to you lexa I hope you’re not mad at me

 **Stranger:** I would hate to end our only conversation like that

 **Stranger:** anyway seriously amazing talking to you you’re awesome

 **Stranger:** I do have to go though

 **Stranger:** idek if you’ll see this but goodnight

 **Stranger:** it’s been fun

 **Stranger:** and I’m still concerned about your possible knife collection

 **Stranger:** may we meet again

**Stranger has disconnected.**


	2. Chapter 2

Lexa wrenched her eyes open and blinked the sleep out of them, her head pounding.  Something heavy weighed down on her chest and she realized it was her laptop.  _How did I fall asleep with my laptop on my chest?_ she wondered.  Lexa began to doze off again, but suddenly her eyes shot open.  _Clarke_.

She moved her finger across the trackpad of her laptop to wake it up.  As soon as the login screen appeared she furiously typed in her password.  She had fallen asleep on Clarke!  Clarke must’ve thought…. She didn’t know what Clarke must have thought but it couldn’t be anything good.

As soon as her computer logged in, she saw that the chat screen was still open with about thirty new messages from Clarke, but the screen ended saying she had disconnected.  Lexa quickly read over the messages.  She felt terrible, falling asleep on Clarke like that, especially because Clarke now thought she did something wrong.

As soon as Lexa saw that Clarke had sent her Tumblr, her heart quickened.  She hesitated, but first typed in Clarke’s art blog in the address bar.  She only scrolled through one page but there were so many other paintings and sketches that Clarke had done.  Lexa really admired Clarke’s art; she was very talented.  Lexa quickly clicked follow.

Next, Lexa took a deep breath and entered Clarke’s other blog into the address bar.  Princessclarke.  Lexa smiled, it was cute.  She held her breath as the page loaded.

The first post was from almost 2 AM that morning.  “I just had the awesomest conversation with a stranger! I just hope she doesn’t hate me oops”.  Lexa frowned.  She felt terrible for falling asleep.

She scrolled down the page a little more and it wasn’t long before she came across a selfie, and it is completely 100% accurate to say that it took her breath away.  Clarke was, well, beautiful.  Not the same beautiful as Costia, with her tanned skin and dark eyes and a secret smile, like she knew something you didn’t.  No, Clarke was quite the opposite with her fair skin and hair, and pale blue eyes.  She smiled like sunshine.  Lexa found herself smiling too.

Lexa scrolled up and clicked the follow button.  She was about to close the page, but then decided to send a message to clear the air.  She wrote:

_Hello Clarke. Thank you again for talking to me last night and cheering me up, I definitely needed it.  I would like to apologize for falling asleep on you though.  I definitely enjoyed our conversation, and if you’re not too upset with me, I hope it’s ok that I followed you. Thanks again. –Lexa_

She hoped she didn’t sound too formal, but that was just how she talked.  Lexa clicked send, and then closed out of the window.

She glanced at the time on her computer.  7:45.

She was definitely going to be late for school.

It was her first day back at school after winter break.  That meant Costia had been gone for three weeks.

Three weeks and she still missed her.

Just because Lexa missed her, doesn’t mean everyone at school had to treat her like she was fragile and could break at any moment.  No, Lexa had her hardened shell for a reason.

She ran into her homeroom class about five seconds _after_ the bell rang, but thankfully, her teacher wasn’t even there yet.  She found a seat next to her friend Lincoln.

“You look like death,” he said.

Lexa hadn’t had time to take a shower, so she just (attempted to) brush her wild hair and put on a little makeup.  That hadn’t worked, so instead she threw on a beanie and glasses instead of contacts like usual.  The hat tamed her curls, but the glasses didn’t do much to hide the dark circles under her eyes, and her head was still pounding.

“Thanks,” Lexa deadpanned.

“Late night?”

“I guess.”

Lexa knew what he wanted to ask.  He wanted to ask about Costia.  He wanted to ask if she was doing ok.  But he knew better than to ask her any of these things in public.

“I’m fine, Lincoln,” she snapped when she saw him still eyeing her suspiciously.  She definitely didn’t sound fine.

“Whatever you say, Commander Grumpy,” Lincoln replied.

Lexa glared.  “I am not grumpy, I just didn’t get much sleep is all.”

“Because you were thinking about—“

“Don’t say it,” Lexa said, her voice less bitter and more desperate.

“I’m sorry,” Lincoln quickly apologized.  “I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” Lexa sighed.  “I wasn’t though.”

“You weren’t what?”

“Thinking about her.”  Lincoln raised an eyebrow, not convinced.  “Not the whole night, at least.”  Lexa’s thoughts drifted again to the conversation she had last night with a random stranger who had made her feel better than she had felt in three weeks.  She wondered if Clarke had gotten her message yet.

“That’s good,” Lincoln said.  He offered her a comforting smile, which Lexa hesitantly returned.

Neither of them noticed when the teacher walked in a few minutes late.  They did, however, notice the unfamiliar boy with messy brown hair trailing behind her.

“Good morning,” the teacher said.  “I hope you all had a lovely break.”  The class mumbled together unenthusiastically.  “We have a new student in our class starting this term.  Would you like to introduce yourself?”  She gestured to the boy.

The boy cleared his throat.  “Um, I’m Bellamy,” he said, and waved awkwardly.  “I just moved here with my little sister.  We’re from LA.”

Lexa rolled her eyes.  New students only ever started drama, and Lexa didn’t care for drama.  Especially if they were from LA.

“Mr. Blake, why don’t you take a seat next to Lincoln?” the teacher asked.  Lexa suppressed a groan.

Bellamy looked out into the seats of students for Lincoln, who raised his hand so Bellamy could find him.  Bellamy made his way to the back of the room and sat down.

“Welcome to DC,” Lincoln said.  “I’m Lincoln, this is my friend Lexa.”

“Hey, I’m Bellamy.”

Lexa did not acknowledge the presence of the new student, and instead opened her book and started to read from where she left off.

As soon as homeroom was over, Lexa pulled out her phone to check Tumblr and see if she had any new messages from Clarke.

 _Nothing_.

Why did she have to fall asleep?  Now Clarke thought Lexa hated her.

 _Why do you care so much?_ Lexa asked herself.  And truth is, she didn’t have an answer.  All Lexa knew was that she really enjoyed their conversation the night before.

By the end of the day, Lexa was starting to really regret only getting three hours of sleep.  She had dozed off in two of her classes and was ending her day with the most boring one of all, AP history.  She sighed, clambered into her seat, and rested her head on her fat textbook.  It wouldn’t hurt to close her eyes for just a moment…

“Good afternoon, class.”  Lexa’s eyes flew open and her head jerked off her desk at the sound of her teacher’s voice.  She had dozed off.  It couldn’t have been for more than a minute, but she still dozed off.  Again.  She put all her focus on Mr. Jaha when he walked to the front of the room.

“Now, I hope you all had a chance to do the assigned reading over winter break, so we can jump right into discussion,” he said.  “Mr. Blake, I understand you just transferred, so you can talk to Miss Woods about what you missed and try to catch up yourself.”

Lexa blinked.  Miss Woods?  That was her.  “What?” she asked.

“Lexa, if you and Bellamy would like, you can go to the library for this class period to help him catch up by tomorrow?” Mr. Jaha asked.

Lexa glanced at Bellamy, who she just realized was sitting next to her.  If the teacher was asking her, she had no other choice but to agree.

“Yes, we can do that,” she replied.  Lexa quickly collected her books and walked out the door, without waiting to see if Bellamy was following her.

Bellamy had to jog to catch up with Lexa.                     

“You don’t like me much, do you?” he asked.

“I don’t like many people,” Lexa replied.  “I’ve only just met you.”

“Why are you helping me then?”

“I don’t dislike you.”

Bellamy looked at her curiously just as they arrived at the library.

“Let’s get to work,” Lexa said.  “You have a lot of catching up to do.

Bellamy was actually pretty smart.  He took AP history at his old school, which is why he was transferred into this class.  He told Lexa that he prefers world history and ancient history, but US history isn’t too bad.  Lexa was able to briefly explain the readings to him, and then he set to work on his own to actually read them.

By the time school was over, Lexa was so tired she had forgotten about the conversation last night, and about Clarke.

That is until she opened her laptop after school and saw a new message notification in the top right hand corner.

x

Clarke Griffin didn’t like school.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like school, but more that she didn’t like waking up at the literal ass of dawn to be ready for it in time.  She was very excited for college next year when she could schedule her classes for any time of the day.

If she got into college, that is.

Clarke shook the thought out of her head.  It was too early to be stressing about whether or not she would be able to go to college.

Right now it was her first day of school after winter break, but more importantly, her first day at school without one of her best friends by her side.

Clarke and Octavia had been best friends for as long as they could remember; they grew up next door to each other and were inseparable their entire lives.  She missed a year of school when she was 13 after her dad left them, so she was a year behind Clarke, but they still spent all their time together once she came back to school.

Octavia and her brother Bellamy had moved across the country about a week ago, and although the goodbye was hard, having to face school without her would be even harder.  She still had their other best friend, Raven, but it wouldn’t be the same without Octavia’s gossip and flirting at every break.

And as Clarke got out of her car and walked through the parking lot, she thought that she would rather be anywhere else at the moment.

An arm was thrown over Clarke’s shoulder as she stood at her locker grabbing books.

“Happy new year!” Raven exclaimed.  “Are you ready for our last few months as high school students?”

Clarke smiled and shoved a book into her backpack.  “You know it, man.”  She waited for Octavia’s quip about how she still had another year, but it never came.  Her smile faltered a little.

“You okay?” Raven asked.

Clarke sighed.  “I miss O.”

“Me too.”

Before they could wallow in their sadness for too long, the bell rang.

“See you at lunch,” Clarke said, and headed off in the opposite direction to get to her first class.

Clarke thought that the teachers would go easy on them because it was their last semester and all the seniors had already checked out anyway, but that was not the case.  It seemed as though every teacher wanted to cram as much as they could into this final semester before they graduated.  It was exhausting.  Clarke barely had time to make it to each class, let alone check her phone.

It wasn’t until lunch that Clarke finally had time to get on her phone.  She was just planning on texting Octavia and checking Facebook, but then she remembered her conversation with Lexa the night before.  She didn’t think Lexa would have come back and seen her messages, but she was curious.  Clarke’s curiosity got the better of her and she opened Tumblr.

She was very surprised to see a new message and a new follower.  She checked the follower first.  _Grumpygay_.  Huh.  They had also liked the selfie she posted last night.

The new message was from the same person.  As Clarke’s eyes scanned the message, her lips turned up into a grin.  So Lexa didn’t hate her, she had just fallen asleep.  Clarke was glad Lexa had sought her out because she really enjoyed their conversation and definitely didn’t want it to be their last.

“What are you grinning at, princess?” Raven asked as she slid next to Clarke at the table.

“What?” Clarke jerked her head up and hid her phone in her lap.  “Nothing.”

“That was not nothing, you are hiding something!” Raven lunged for her phone but Clarke pulled away.

“What’s Clarke hiding?” Jasper asked as he sat down across the table from them.  Monty followed close behind him.

“I’m not hiding anything!” Clarke defended, but in her momentary distraction, Raven snatched the phone from her hand and quickly read the message on the screen.

“Ooooh, who’s Lexa?” Raven asked, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows.

“No one,” Clarke said.  “Just some girl I talked to last night.”

“You talked to a girl last night?” Monty asked.  He bit on a French fry.

“Where’d you meet her?” Raven asked.

“Is she hot?” Jasper interjected.

Clarke rolled her eyes at Jasper.  “Really?”  Jasper just shrugged.  “It was on that anonymous chat website.  I was bored and we had a really nice conversation.”

“Really?  I heard it was boring enough to put her to sleep.”  Clarke glared at Raven and took her phone back.  “You know I kid.  So is she hot?”

Clarke shrugged.  “I don’t know what she looks like.”

“But you’re into her, right?  That’s why you gave her your Tumblr.”

“I don’t know, I barely know her,” Clarke said.  “We had a nice talk is all.”

Raven turned to Jasper and Monty, addressing them instead.  “Twenty bucks says she’s smitten in a week.”

“You’re on,” Monty said.

Jasper shrugged.  “I give her a couple days.  Maybe.”

“Hey!” Clarke said, “I’m right here!”

“We know,” Raven said.

Clarke then proceeded to ignore her friends.  Instead she took out her phone and started working on her reply to Lexa.

_LEXA!!!!! omg i’m so glad you messaged me I thought I scared you off!! hope you got a good sleep! I asked you to follow me so I am definitely ok with it! :) i’m so glad ur not mad I totally thought you were!_

Was that too many exclamation marks?  Did she sound too excited?  Honestly, Clarke didn’t care, she was happy to hear from Lexa and couldn’t wait to stalk her blog and hopefully find pictures of her.

Clarke quickly tapped the follow button in the top corner and then started scrolling down.  It was mostly hipster, aesthetic posts of the sky or grass or the ocean, but there were occasional text posts and jokes.  Clarke felt like she scrolled endlessly, but she couldn’t find a single picture of Lexa.  She had to resort to other methods.

She went to Lexa’s blog on her browser and searched for things tagged ‘my face’.  Nothing.  That was odd.  Next, Clarke searched for simply ‘me’.  Again, nothing.  She tried ‘selfie’, ‘face’, ‘face tag’, and any other variation she could think of but nothing came up.

“What?!” she gasped out loud, and quickly covered her mouth.

“What’s wrong, princess?” Raven asked.

“She doesn’t have any selfies!”

Raven stared at her a moment, before once again, turning to their friends across the table.  “You know, I think Jasper might actually win this one.”

Clarke groaned.

By the end of the day, Clarke couldn’t wait for graduation in June.  Six months was way too far, and she definitely did not want to spend it doing school work.  At least she had spring break to look forward to; she and Raven were already planning a trip to DC to visit Octavia.

Speaking of Octavia, Clarke finally found a new text message from her friend after school.

_Hey babe, sorry I haven’t texted all day! New school is kicking my ass! Call me when you’re home I miss u_

Clarke smiles at the message, and quickly hits the call button.  Octavia picks up on the first ring.

“Oh my god, _finally_!  I was wondering what was taking so long but then I remembered that time differences suck.”

Clarke laughed.  “They do indeed.”  She had missed the sound of her friend’s voice.  It had been way too long since she’d heard it.

“What’s it like at Western without me?” Octavia asked.

“It’s weird, O, I don’t think I’ll get used to it, like, ever.”

“Good.”

“How’s DC?” Clarke asked.

“Fucking cold.  It _snows_ here, Clarke!  I’ve never even _seen_ snow before!” Octavia’s dramatics made Clarke smile.

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” Clarke said.  “I meant how’s the new school?  Made any friends?”

“School actually isn’t too bad.  There’s some nice kids here.”

“Speak for yourself!”  Clarke heard someone shout from the other end of the line.

“Is that Bell?”

“Yeah,” Octavia said.  “Apparently there’s this girl who already hates him after the first day, but like, we already know he’s not very likeable.”

“HEY!”

Clarke laughed.  Bellamy and Octavia’s sibling antics were also something that she missed.

“Tell Bellamy I said hi.”

“Clarke says she doesn’t miss you at all,” Octavia said.

Clarke shook her head.  She should have seen that one coming.

“OH!  There’s also a really cute guy in my pre-calc class!” Octavia exclaimed.  “That’s my senior class so he’s probably actually my age!  Thank god I’m good at math.”

“Watch out DC, Octavia Blake is here to steal all your men,” Clarke joked.

“Ha ha,” Octavia said.  “Do you think Raven is home yet? I wanna talk to her too.”

“Probably not, she has robotics club after school.”

Octavia fake gagged.  “Ew, nerd.”                                     

“O, you were in robotics club too.”

“Still.”

Clarke and Octavia chatted for a while longer.  Clarke knew she had lots of homework she had to get started on, but she just couldn’t tear herself away from her conversation with Octavia.  She missed her best friend and it had only been a week.  She couldn’t even imagine how hard it would be months from now.  Clarke decided to not think about that.  She just thought about how good it was to talk to Octavia now, and how awesome it would be to see her in April for spring break.

x

_Don’t worry, Clarke, you didn’t scare me off.  Why would I be mad at you?  I told you I enjoyed our conversation very much :)_

Lexa glanced over her message to Clarke again and hit send.  She tried to focus on her reading, but she kept glancing back to her laptop screen to see if the message icon appeared in the corner yet.  She refreshed the website once more and when her inbox was still empty, she sighed and closed her laptop.  She might as well get some work done without any distractions.

Lexa was content, sitting on her bed doing homework with Minerva curled up next to her taking a nap.  She stroked the dog’s soft fur as her eyes skimmed her AP lit textbook, reading Dante’s Inferno.  She also played music softly from her laptop.

Lexa was content until her bedroom door flew open without warning, startling the dog who woke up and jumped, which startled Lexa from her reading.  Her sister Anya strode into the room and plopped down on her bed.

“Oh, you’re still here?” Lexa asked, after she recovered from the shock.  “When are you going back to college?”

“Hey, you love me,” Anya said.  “My semester doesn’t start until the end of the month.”

“Lucky,” Lexa said.  She turned her gaze back down to the page of her book.

“Lexa,” Anya said, but Lexa ignored her.  Anya, though, would not give up.  “Lexaaaaaa,” she said, poking her sister.  “Lexa I’m bored.”

“Then go do something,” Lexa said without looking up from her book.

“I’m trying.  Go to the movies with me?”

Lexa sighed.  “Anya, I have homework, I’m sorry.  Not all of us have the leisure of starting school so late.”  Anya frowned.  “Why don’t you take Minnie for a walk?”  Minerva’s ears perked up at the sound of her name.  “See?  She wants to go!”

The dog trotted over to Anya and licked her face incessantly.

“Ew!  Stop!  Ok, fine, I’ll take you out!”  Anya pushed Minerva away from her and stood up.  “Come on, girl.  Let’s go for a walk.”

Minerva jumped off the bed and ran out the door, wagging her tail excitedly.

“Have fun studying, nerd,” Anya said as she walked out, and closed the door behind her.

Lexa smiled to herself as she got back to her reading.  She and Anya were always close, and when she left for college a year ago it was hard, so having her back in the house, even for a little while, was nice.  Lexa continued doing her reading for school and it wasn’t until an hour later that she decided she needed a break.

She stretched her arms above her head, then opened her laptop.  Her eye was caught by the red message notification in the corner.  It was another message from Clarke.

_Good, I was worried. idk maybe I just freaked out I like to jump to conclusions sometimes but I am glad I didn’t scare you off!_

Lexa smiled.  She typed out a quick reply.

_I am not scared off that easily.  At least I know you’re not a creepy old man, judging by your selfie._

She hit send and went back to scrolling, but it was less than a minute later that she had another message from the girl.

_I am in fact not a creepy old man. you on the other hand haven’t posted any selfies so I have no idea whether you are a creepy old man or not. Selfie? :)_

Lexa sighed.  She got this question occasionally.  Usually it was from anonymous people she probably never spoke to, but this time it was from Clarke.

 _I’m more of a private person_.

She hit send, but then wondered if that was enough to say.  She hoped she didn’t offend Clarke by being so abrupt, but she also hoped Clarke didn’t think she wanted to stop talking.

When Lexa refreshed the page again, she had two new messages.  One was just a frown face.  But the second one said.

_wait are u online right now? we could move to skype if ur ok with that I just hate these messages skype is so much easier. Same username_

Lexa was a little shocked by this proposition.  She just said she was a private person, and then Clarke goes and asks for her Skype?  It’s not like her Skype actually had any personal information on it either but still.  Lexa considered for a moment, and she’s not sure why, but she quickly added Clarke on Skype and sent her a message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally supposed to be a one shot but I liked the format so I'm trying something new. I'll be alternating between chat based chapters (like the one before) and prose based chapters (like this one). I already have a lot planned for the story and another chapter and a half written so hopefully I'll be able to update this somewhat regularly! I do get motivation from feedback so please comment and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa chat on skype.

**Commander Grumpy:** hello Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** LEXA

 **Griffin Door:** HI HOW ARE YOU

 **Commander Grumpy:** Griffin Door?

 **Griffin Door:** oh yeah my last name is Griffin so I thought it’d be funny

 **Griffin Door:** like Gryffindor

 **Griffin Door:** it’s a pun

 **Griffin Door:** even though I’m not actually a Gryffindor

 **Commander Grumpy:** what are you then?

 **Griffin Door:** slytherin

 **Commander Grumpy:** ah, I see

 **Commander Grumpy:** you know, you can tell a lot about a person by their house

 **Commander Grumpy:** I feel like I know so much about you now

 **Griffin Door:** HEY! don’t judge slytherins are cool

 **Commander Grumpy:** who said I was judging?

 **Griffin Door:** what about you?

 **Commander Grumpy:** what?

 **Griffin Door:** I know you like harry potter so what’s ur house

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am a ravenclaw

 **Griffin Door:** isn’t ravenclaw the most judgy house….

 **Commander Grumpy:** we are not judgmental!

 **Commander Grumpy:** who’s judging now?

 **Griffin Door:** I was just teasing

 **Griffin Door:** lighten up commander grumpy

 **Griffin Door:** which, by the way, is that gonna come with an explanation?

 **Commander Grumpy:** my friend calls me that sometimes because he thinks I’m grumpy

 **Commander Grumpy:** which I am not

 **Commander Grumpy:** so one day he had to borrow my laptop and while he was using it he changed my skype name

 **Commander Grumpy:** and I have no idea how to change it back

 **Griffin Door:** that is hilarious

 **Griffin Door:** I would tell you how to change it but I have no idea what you look like

 **Commander Grumpy:** how are those two things related at all?

 **Griffin Door:** they’re not I just really want a selfie

 **Griffin Door:** tell you what you post a selfie and I will help you change it back

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ve gone this long as commander grumpy, I think I’ll live

 **Griffin Door:** PLEASE LEXA

 **Griffin Door:** you don’t have ANY personal information on your blog

 **Griffin Door:** how do I know YOU’RE not a creepy old man, hm?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am sorry Clarke, but I don’t like sharing personal information online.

 **Griffin Door:** at least tell me where you’re from

 **Griffin Door:** state?

 **Griffin Door:** country?

 **Griffin Door:** time zone?

 **Commander Grumpy:** …fine

 **Griffin Door:** REALLY??

 **Griffin Door:** wait which one

 **Commander Grumpy:** it is 8:04pm here

 **Griffin Door:** ah, so you’re an east coast gal

 **Griffin Door:** aren’t east coast people also judgmental

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am going to ignore that

 **Commander Grumpy:** let me guess, you’re from LA

 **Griffin Door:** HOW THE FUCK

 **Griffin Door:** I mean maybe

 **Commander Grumpy:** west coast/east coast feud remember

 **Commander Grumpy:** since I apparently am the judgy one

 **Griffin Door:** CIVIL WAR

 **Commander Grumpy:** the LA part was just a guess

 **Griffin Door:** so what are you up to?

 **Commander Grumpy:** homework break

 **Commander Grumpy:** AP lit is kicking my ass

 **Griffin Door:** SO YOU’RE IN HIGH SCHOOL

 **Griffin Door:** a senior, I’m guessing?

 **Commander Grumpy:** ….

 **Griffin Door:** I’m in AP lit too

 **Griffin Door:** what are you reading?

 **Commander Grumpy:** Dante’s Inferno                           

 **Griffin Door:** oh yea we did that one last semester

 **Griffin Door:** I actually really liked it

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m more partial to The Iliad

 **Griffin Door:** also good

 **Commander Grumpy:** let’s not talk about AP lit though I came online to give my brain a break

 **Griffin Door:** a much needed break, I assume

 **Griffin Door:** do you know what this calls for?

 **Commander Grumpy:** what?

 **Griffin Door:** MORE DOG VIDEOS

 **Griffin Door:** http://thebestoftumbling.tumblr.com/post/124247864364

 **Commander Grumpy:** haha, thank you Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** I do appreciate your cute dog videos

 **Griffin Door:** enough to post a selfie?

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** pleeeeeeaaaase

 **Commander Grumpy:** maybe eventually but not now I look like a mess

 **Griffin Door:** I bet u look super cute

 **Commander Grumpy:** you don’t even know what I look like

 **Griffin Door:** I know but it’s probably super cute

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke I swe3Wer3253DSAF

 **Griffin Door:** what

 **Commander Grumpy:** klo;p[p[-ipo9i

 **Griffin Door:** lexa

 **Griffin Door:** u ok

 **Commander Grumpy:** sorry

 **Commander Grumpy:** Minerva jumped on my bed

 **Commander Grumpy:** she wanted attention

 **Griffin Door:** haha I love your dog

 **Commander Grumpy:** I guess I should get back to my homework

 **Griffin Door:** yeah, I guess I should start mine

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke!

 **Griffin Door:** hey I am a master procrastinator

 **Commander Grumpy:** are you sure you’re not a Gryffindor?

 **Griffin Door:** HEY I AM NOT IRRESPONSIBLE

 **Griffin Door:** also see you’re judging! Ha!

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am not

 **Griffin Door:** are too

 **Griffin Door:** you believe in house stereotypes

 **Commander Grumpy:** …not all of them

 **Griffin Door:** don’t you have homework to do? :P

 **Commander Grumpy:** goodbye Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** talk to you soon!

 **Griffin Door:** :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter in chat format. I have another chapter finished, so I'm hoping I can stay on a somewhat consistent schedule of updating this fic. If you want updates on when I'm writing or just to bother me about posting the next chapter you can follow me on Tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer. Enjoy :)


	4. Chapter 4

Lexa woke up the next morning to another message in her inbox from Clarke.  Her alarm blared into her ears at 6:30 sharp, and she quickly turned it off on her phone.  When she went through her usual morning routine of checking her email and social media, she saw the notification that she had a new message on Tumblr from princessclarke.

_thanks for talking to me last night! You are the best cure to my boredom I’ve found so far_

Lexa smiled to herself at the message.  She was starting to look forward to her messages from Clarke, even though they had only spoken twice, technically.  Lexa typed out a quick reply.

_I wasn’t bored, but you are an amusing person to talk to. Let’s do it again sometime._

Lexa cringed at the formality of her words but hit send anyway.  Her dialogue was never irritating before, so why change it now?

By the time Lexa finished with her phone it was almost seven and she only had half an hour to shower and get ready for school.  She sped through the process and grabbed an apple on her way out the door for breakfast.

When she got to school, she caught Lincoln flirting with a girl at his locker, while the girl was leaning against the locker next to his.  Which happened to be Lexa’s locker.

Lexa cleared her throat.  The two looked at her in surprise.  “That’s my locker,” she said curtly to the girl.

“Oh! Sorry about that,” she said, a little too enthusiastic.  “I’ll see you in class, Linc.”

He watched her walk away with a smitten, dreamy look on his face.  “Linc?” Lexa asked him.

Lincoln just shrugged.  “With a face like that, she can call me whatever she wants.”

Lexa rolled her eyes.  “Who was that anyway?”

“Octavia Blake,” Lincoln sighed.

“Blake?” Lexa asked.  “Bellamy’s sister?”

Lincoln’s eyes widened.  “Oh shoot.  I didn’t even realize—I hope he’s not mad, he’s a cool guy…”

Lexa chuckled to herself as her friend rambled.  Lincoln was never the brightest kid but he was sweet and always had good intentions.

Lincoln was only cut off by the ringing of the bell, and the two friends made their way to homeroom.

x

“I’m telling you, Clarke, you’re smitten.”

“I am not!”

“Are too.”

“Raven’s right.”

“Who’s side are you on, Monty?”

“Mine, clearly.”  Clarke threw a cherry tomato at Raven’s face.  “Hey!  You know I don’t like vegetables.”

“Can you guys shut up?  I hardly know the girl!”

“Ok but answer me one thing, Griffin,” Raven retorted.  “How many pages of her blog have you gone through today?”

Clarke froze and looked up from her laptop.  She slowly closed the computer.  “I don’t have to answer that.”

“See?  Smitten.”

“Why do you even want me to be smitten already?  That means Jasper wins your bet.”

Raven’s eyes widen.  “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“What did I win?” Jasper asked as he walked up to their table.  “Is Clarke smitten?”

“Nope,” Raven said quickly.  “Not at all.”  Jasper glared at her, but Raven smiled innocently.  “Have you even checked for a message from her yet?”

“No, I haven’t,” Clarke said in realization.  She quickly opened her laptop again to check her messages.  She smiled at Lexa’s message and at the thought of talking to her again.

_I would love that! when are u free?_

It almost felt like she was asking Lexa out on a date, but she knew that wasn’t the case.  It was just a skype date—no, no, that still had the word ‘date’ in it…  They were just going to talk.

And Clarke couldn’t wait to talk to Lexa again.

The bell rang and they all packed up their lunches.  Thankfully, Clarke’s next class was physics with Raven.

Or not so thankfully because Raven spent the entire period reminding Clarke about Lexa.  The best part was when she drew two female stick figures holding hands inside a heart and wrote “CLARKE + LEXA 4EVER” and gave it to Clarke.

Clarke crumbled up the paper and threw it at Raven’s face when the teacher wasn’t looking.

x                        

Lexa’s day was so busy.  Not busy in the sense that she was a little tired by the end of the day, but busy in the sense that she didn’t even have time to eat lunch because she was busy reviewing proofs for the yearbook, and she had to sneak bites of her sandwich into her mouth during AP calculus right after lunch.  Thankfully her teacher was very lax on the food in the classroom policy.

After calculus was history with Bellamy Blake and, as it turns out, he still had some catching up to do.  They spent the entire class period in the library again.

“Wow, your old teacher must have sucked,” Lexa commented.

“Yeah she was awful,” Bellamy said.  “I learned nothing except for what I taught myself.”

“Well lucky for you we take our nation’s history very seriously here in the capital.”

Lexa wouldn’t admit it but she was starting to warm up to Bellamy.  He was intelligent, nice, easy to talk to, which was not something she could say about very many people she knew.  It wasn’t long before the bell rang signaling the end of the day.

“Well, thanks again,” Bellamy said as he collected his books.  “I gotta go find my sister before she runs off for the rest of the day.”

Lexa nodded.  “I have rehearsal, so I’ll see you.”

“Hopefully I’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow!”  He waved and walked out of the library.

Lexa loved musicals, but she had neither the talent nor the confidence to actually be _in_ them, so she settled for working crew on all the shows, and the director had just asked her to be the student assistant director for this show.  They were doing Grease and it was one of Lexa’s favorite musicals so she happily jumped on the chance.  Unfortunately, starting today, it meant lots of long hours after school, following around her director and writing down every word he said.

By the time Lexa was finished with rehearsal, it was dark outside, and she hated driving through snow in the dark.

Her parents had saved a plate for her at dinner, which Lexa warmed up in the microwave and then took back to her room so she could work on homework.

And she fell asleep with her face on Minerva’s side, using the dog’s soft fur and squishy tummy as a comfortable pillow.  Minerva licked the plate that was still on Lexa’s bed.  Her laptop was precariously close to the edge of the bed.

Lexa jerked awake at 6:30 in the morning when her alarm went off and felt warm wetness on her toes.  Lexa squinted and sat up and saw Minerva at her feet licking her toes.  “Minnie, stop that,” she mumbled sleepily.  Lexa sat up and Minerva jumped off the bed, knocking her laptop over in the process.  “Minnie no!”

Too late.  The laptop fell on her floor with a thud.  Lexa scrambled out of bed and opened it.  She held her breath as she waited for it to turn on.  When a picture appeared on screen, she breathed a sigh of relief.  “That is the last time you’re sleeping on my bed Minnie,” she sneered at the dog.  It was a lie. Minerva would be back in Lexa’s bed that very night.

At least she was awake now, Lexa thought as she closed her laptop and shoved it into her backpack to get ready for school.

Once she got to school Lexa was on her feet nonstop until after rehearsal again.  Thankfully Bellamy had caught up so she didn’t have to spend valuable class time helping him anymore.  Rehearsal was slightly less long and she was able to get home just before sunset.  Her parents hadn’t even had dinner yet.

She got the normal spiel of, “You’re so busy, Lexa,” and, “Don’t you think you have a little too much on your plate?” but she waved it off, as usual.

Lexa was able to get an early start on her homework, and decided to power through it to give herself time to relax before bed.  It was almost midnight when she finished and was able to just casually browse the internet.

She found four new messages from Clarke.

One asking when Lexa was free, another asking if she got the first message, another message apologizing if she did in fact get all three messages, and a final message requesting a selfie once again.

Lexa didn’t conceal the blush that creeped onto her cheeks.  Clarke was sweet, and enthusiastic, and definitely cute.  Her interest in friendship didn’t mean anything, especially if she was across the country.  But still, Lexa enjoyed talking to the other girl.  She quickly told Clarke that she should be free this weekend to chat, and apologized for taking so long to respond, as her weekdays are usually impossibly busy.

Lexa closed her laptop and, was about to start getting ready for bed when a thought crossed her mind.  She took out her phone and looked through her pictures for a recent selfie.  She found one of herself and Minerva from last week and posted it to Tumblr with the caption: _For @princessclarke. Maybe she’ll stop pestering me for a selfie. And so you all can see how cute my dog is._

With a satisfied smile, Lexa posted the picture and went to sleep.

x

Clarke slept for twelve hours.

She doesn’t usually sleep for even six hours, so maybe the lack of sleep caught up with her.  But she fell asleep right after dinner and didn’t wake up until 6 the next morning.  She felt groggy, but refreshed as she stumbled into the shower.

In fact, she was so refreshed and content, that Lexa didn’t even cross her mind until she was at school and Raven asked, “So how’s your girlfriend?”

“What girl—Lexa?” Clarke asked.  “She’s not my girlfriend!”

“So you haven’t talked to her this morning yet?”

“No!”  But as Clarke replied, she opened Tumblr on her phone to see if she had any new messages from the girl she hadn’t heard from in a few days.  She couldn’t help the smile that captured her lips when she saw the notification.

“New message?”

“Shut up.”

Clarke read the message quickly and excitedly.  Lexa wanted to talk to her this weekend!  She hastily typed out a reply.

_This weekend sounds perf! It’ll have to be later tho cause I volunteer at my mom’s hospital Saturday_

Although she would gladly ditch work to spend all day talking to Lexa.  Clarke smiled to herself and went to the notification tab.  She noticed that she was mentioned in a post.  She clicked on it without thinking and when she saw what it was, a squeal left her mouth.

“What was that?” asked Jasper, as he walked up to Clarke and Raven, followed closely by Monty.

“Uhh, Clarke?” Raven asked.  She looked over Clarke’s shoulder at the phone and saw the picture.  Her eyes widened.  “Is that Lexa?”

Clarke, speechless and blushing like crazy, slowly nodded.

“What?  Let me see!”  Monty pushed Raven out of the way to see the picture of Lexa.  “Aww, cute dog.”

“Wait, does this mean I win the bet?” Jasper asked.

“No!  She’s not smitten!” Raven exclaims.  “Right Clarke?  You were just telling me, you’re not smitten.”

Clarke hasn’t taken her eyes off the picture.  It’s the first she’s seen of Lexa and _god she’s cute!_   The small smile you can see as she gives her dog a kiss, the curve of her nose, those cheekbones.  And her eyes are _so_ green.  Clarke is lost in them like a forest.  Thank god for technology for making the selfie cameras more HD, because you can see every little detail, and Clarke can’t get enough.

Instead of answering Raven’s question, Clarke groans.  Raven and Monty both hand Jasper twenty dollar bills.

X

Lexa reads Clarke’s message after school.  Lexa isn’t doing anything all weekend, but she doesn’t like the idea of waiting until Saturday night to talk to Clarke again.

_How about Friday night instead?_

Lexa looks at her question.  It’s simple and to the point, but she still can’t help feeling like she’s asking Clarke on a date.  She kind of wishes it was, but with Clarke being across the country, she’ll settle for a stimulating skype conversation.

The reply is quick, and Clarke agrees on tomorrow night.  Lexa gets excited chills.

Lexa also sees that Clarke liked and reblogged her picture with Minerva.  Lexa couldn’t help her blush when she saw that Clarke tagged the picture with #cuuuuuuuuuuuuute, and #srsly you’re so cute, and #i told  you.

Luckily, the next 24 hours passes rather quickly and uneventfully and Lexa finds herself logging into skype at 6:59 PM.  She gets a message even before the clock turns to 7:00.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to keep up with this weekly schedule of updating on Wednesdays but I also I don't want to jinx it so we'll see! Next week is spring break and I'm hoping to churn out a few more chapters so I'll still have stuff to post when I don't have as much time to write. As always your comments are welcome/very much appreciated :) Feel free to follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer for updates/questions


	5. Chapter 5

**Griffin Door:** go to your profile and click on your name

 **Commander Grumpy:** what?

 **Griffin Door:** that’s how you can change your skype name

 **Griffin Door:** I keep my promises

 **Commander Grumpy:** it’s that simple?

 **Griffin Door:**  yes

 **Commander Grumpy:** huh.

 **Commander Grumpy:** interesting

 **Commander Grumpy:** honestly I’m kind of fond of commander grumpy

 **Commander Grumpy:** don’t tell Lincoln

 **Griffin Door:** your secret is safe with me

 **Griffin Door:** anyway I told you so

 **Commander Grumpy:** told me what?

 **Griffin Door:** you’re super cute

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am not

 **Commander Grumpy:** Minnie steals the show

 **Griffin Door:** she’s not really my type ;)

 **Commander Grumpy:** How was your week, Clarke?

 **Griffin Door:** it was good, nothing really special

 **Griffin Door:** how bout you?

 **Commander Grumpy:** my week was busy!

 **Griffin Door:** with what?

 **Commander Grumpy:** well for starters I’m taking three AP classes

 **Commander Grumpy:** we had a transfer student and I was tasked with catching him up on material we covered, which cut into valuable homework time, plus he was kind of obnoxious and irritating

 **Commander Grumpy:** as well as rehearsals for the school play started, and I am assistant director for the show

 **Griffin Door:** wow

 **Griffin Door:** sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate

 **Commander Grumpy:** yeah but it’ll be worth it once I get into college

 **Griffin Door:** true

 **Griffin Door:** I’m counting on my straight As and volunteer hours to get me in

 **Griffin Door:** cause other than that I don’t do anything

 **Commander Grumpy:** you paint

 **Griffin Door:** yeah but like that’s more of a hobby

 **Commander Grumpy:** but you’re good at it, and you like it. You’d think schools would like that

 **Griffin Door:** not when you’re going pre med

 **Commander Grumpy:** pre med??

 **Griffin Door:** yeah why

 **Commander Grumpy:** idk you don’t really seem like the pre med type

 **Griffin Door:** haha what does that mean?

 **Commander Grumpy:** well you seem like more of the creative minded type. Wouldn’t being a doctor limit that?

 **Griffin Door:** I guess, idk

 **Griffin Door:** me being a doctor has been the plan since I was like five

 **Griffin Door:** my mom’s a doctor so it’s sort of expected

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh, I see

 **Commander Grumpy:** do you like it though?

 **Griffin Door:** what do you mean?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I don’t know

 **Commander Grumpy:** do you like the idea of being a doctor?

 **Griffin Door:** I don’t know

 **Griffin Door:** no one’s ever asked me that before

 **Griffin Door:** jeez what are you psychoanalyzing me for

 **Commander Grumpy:** planning on a psych major

 **Griffin Door:** of course

 **Griffin Door:** so what do you wanna do with that?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I was thinking like a guidance counselor or something

 **Commander Grumpy:** kids have a lot of problems. I want to help with that

 **Griffin Door:** you’d make a good guidance counselor

 **Griffin Door:** when my dad died I had such a shitty counselor

 **Griffin Door:** he made me do those stupid ink blot tests and dumb mental exercises

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh yeah those are stupid

 **Griffin Door:** haha I thought those were like a staple of psychology

 **Commander Grumpy:** idk I just hate them

 **Commander Grumpy:** let’s stop talking about college and the future that’s a long way off

 **Griffin Door:** TRU

 **Griffin Door:** hows Minnie?

 **Commander Grumpy:** cute! As usual

 **Commander Grumpy:** how’s your pet rock?

 **Griffin Door:** oh he died

 **Commander Grumpy:** maybe your mom is right

 **Commander Grumpy:** you shouldn’t get a pet

 **Griffin Door:** HEY

 **Griffin Door:** THAT WAS A JOKE

 **Griffin Door:** I CAN TAKE CARE OF A PET

 **Griffin Door:** I’LL SHOW YOU

 **Commander Grumpy:** if you can keep a fish alive for more than two weeks, then I’ll believe you

 **Griffin Door:** hey that’s not fair

 **Commander Grumpy:** why? It’s a perfectly reasonable suggestion

 **Griffin Door:** yeah but fish don’t do anything

 **Griffin Door:** it’s so easy to forget about them

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke all you have to do is feed it

 **Griffin Door:** yeah but

 **Griffin Door:** you know what

 **Griffin Door:** FINE

 **Griffin Door:** I will get a fish

 **Griffin Door:** and I will show you

 **Commander Grumpy:** wait no I don’t want that fish’s blood on my hands

 **Griffin Door:** I’M NOT GONNA KILL IT

 **Griffin Door:** that’s the point remember!

 **Commander Grumpy:** …

 **Commander Grumpy:** I don’t think this is the best idea

 **Commander Grumpy:** you can’t just get a fish out of spite

 **Griffin Door:** you bet ur cute ass I can

 **Griffin Door:** I need something fun to do anyway

 **Commander Grumpy:** fine but if it dies it’s not my fault

 **Griffin Door:** it’s not gonna die!!!

 **Griffin Door:** why don’t you trust me?

 **Commander Grumpy:** because I don’t know you

 **Griffin Door:** well what do you wanna know about me

 **Griffin Door:** I’m an open book

 **Griffin Door:** you know my name is Clarke Griffin

 **Griffin Door:** I’m a senior in high school

 **Griffin Door:** I’m from los angeles

 **Griffin Door:** I like art

 **Griffin Door:** what else

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke that’s not what I meant haha

 **Griffin Door:** I love reality tv, and historical fiction (but not actual history), I’m bi, only child, straight A student, favorite movie is titanic, and I may have had a pet fish that died when I was ten but that was ONLY BECAUSE I was on vacation with my dad for two weeks and my mom forgot to feed it

 **Commander Grumpy:** your mom forgot to feed it?

 **Griffin Door:** yeah, but she still uses that as a reason for me to not get a pet

 **Commander Grumpy:** that sucks

 **Commander Grumpy:** but thank you for the crash course on Clarke Griffin :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** is now a bad time to say that I’ve never seen Titanic

 **Griffin Door:** WHAT

 **Griffin Door:** YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am serious

 **Griffin Door:** OH MY GOD

 **Griffin Door:** I can’t believe

 **Griffin Door:** this must be amended

 **Commander Grumpy:** I mean I know what happens

 **Griffin Door:** YOU’VE BEEN SPOILED???

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke it’s the titanic

 **Commander Grumpy:** everyone knows what happens

 **Griffin Door:** STILL

 **Commander Grumpy:** I don’t mind, I mean idk how much I’ll like it anyway

 **Griffin Door:** you take that back

 **Commander Grumpy:** why?

 **Griffin Door:** it’s my FAVORITE movie

 **Commander Grumpy:** we don’t have to like the same movies, Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** oh yeah what’s your favorite movie harry potter?

 **Commander Grumpy:** no the movies suck

 **Commander Grumpy:** and it’s the Princess Bride for your information

 **Griffin Door:** ok that is a good movie

 **Griffin Door:** you have good taste my friend

 **Griffin Door:** except for not watching titanic

 **Griffin Door:** so what else

 **Commander Lexa:** what do you mean?

 **Griffin Door:** tell me about you

 **Griffin Door:** and I don’t mean like where you live or your last name or boring shit like that

 **Griffin Door:** I mean like movies shows music books stuff like that

 **Commander Lexa:** well I’m obsessed with food network

 **Griffin Door:** I can’t watch food network it always makes me hungry

 **Commander Grumpy:** me too but I still like watching it

 **Commander Grumpy:** and music??? I don’t know, all sorts. I’m not picky

 **Griffin Door:** really? So like I already know you like musicals

 **Griffin Door:** what about like top 40s pop?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yeah

 **Griffin Door:** grunge?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yes

 **Griffin Door:** indie rock?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yep

 **Griffin Door:** rap?

 **Commander Grumpy:** love rap

 **Griffin Door:** country?

 **Commander Grumpy:** ….

 **Commander Grumpy:** ok that’s where I draw the line

 **Griffin Door:** it’s fine country sucks haha

 **Griffin Door:** sooo

 **Griffin Door:** what’s cookin good lookin?

 **Griffin Door:** sorry that was a joke

 **Griffin Door:** geddit cause you like food network

 **Griffin Door:** ok it was abad joke

 **Griffin Door:** not one of my proudest moments

 **Griffin Door:** I promise I tell better jokes than that like 90% of the time

 **Griffin Door:** ok 80%

 **Griffin Door:** 60?

 **Griffin Door:** lexa?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m sorry Clarke my sister called me, apparently Minnie ate some chocolate and we have to go to the vet right away

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ll talk to you tomorrow

 **Griffin Door:** oh no!

 **Griffin Door:** I hope she’s ok

 **Commander Grumpy:** thanks

 **Commander Grumpy:** bye Clarke

_Commander Grumpy is offline._

**Griffin Door:** I’ll be thinking about you

 **Griffin Door:** I mean her. Minnie. I’ll be thinking about her

 **Griffin Door:** because I hope she’s ok

 **Griffin Door:** good luck Lexa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot how much I like doing nothing during breaks from school, but I am still planning on keeping on this weekly updating schedule. Enjoy the chapter and as always, let me know what you think! :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this time of need, I have decided to update this fic a little early. Enjoy, and stay strong my friends. Don't worry, there is lots of slow-burn fluff ahead.

Clarke had to be up early the next morning to volunteer at the hospital, but before she left, she checked her messages for anything from Lexa.  She frowned when her inbox was empty.

 _Hey Lex,_ she wrote, _I hope youre ok and I hope minnie’s ok. Let me know when you hear anything.  
x Clarke_

She sent the message and reluctantly went off to work.

It’s not that Clarke _didn’t_ like volunteering at a hospital.  It wasn’t too bad.  It was mostly general duties that the doctors and nurses didn’t want to do themselves, like cleaning and organizing, but sometimes she got to talk to a cool patient.  She just didn’t like seeing old peoples butts or being thrown up on, both of which usually happened every week.  And again, without fail, Clarke found herself leaving her shift a little early so she can get out of the disgusting, vomit covered uniform.

She had been called in to clean up after someone who threw up.  Turns out, he wasn’t done and as soon as Clarke arrived, he practically projectile vomited all over her.  Instead of cleaning, Clarke just excused herself to the bathroom and stripped out of her clothes.  She soaked them in the sink and then put them in a plastic bag that she brought for occasions such as these.

As she was leaving the hospital, Clarke got a phone call.

“Dude, where are you?” Raven said.

“Are you at my house again?” Clarke asked.

“Maybe.  I thought you would be here.”

“I volunteer on Saturdays, remember?” Clarke said.

“You’re still doing that?”  Clarke rolled her eyes.  “It’s ok, I can wait.”

“Fine,” Clarke sighed.  “But you’re running an errand with me after I shower.”

She hung up before Raven could protest.

After a hot shower to wash off the filth of hospital patients, Clarke found Raven digging through her fridge.

“What? I’m hungry,” Raven shrugged.  “That’s why I’m here, I wanted to go out to lunch but someone took forever in the shower.”

“I’d like to see you take a ten-minute shower covered in vomit,” Clarke retorted.

“Fine, let’s go.”  Raven closed the fridge and headed for the door.  “Shotgun!”

“I guess I’m driving,” Clarke grumbled, and grabbed her keys.

They got lunch first, as Raven’s growling stomach needed satisfaction, stat.

“So, how’s your girlfriend?” Raven asked as she chomped into a burger.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Clarke exclaimed again.

“Ok, so how’s your friend that you want to be your girlfriend?” Raven corrected.

Clarke rolled her eyes.  “We talked again last night,” she admitted with a small smile.

“Girl you’re in trouble,” Raven laughed.

“I know,” Clarke groaned.  “But I don’t even know what she thinks!  She’s so stoic most of the time, it’s hard to read her.  Not to mention she lives on the other side of the country.”

“Where’s she from?” Raven asked.

Clarke shrugged.  “She doesn’t want to say where she lives, but I know she’s three hours ahead.  Time difference sucks.  I haven’t talked to O since Tuesday!”  She munched on her fries angrily.

“Who knows what that girl is up to in DC,” Raven said.  “Barely has time for her best friends anymore!”

“It’s not her fault, she’s probably just busy with the move,” Clarke replied.

“I know, I know,” Raven sighed.  “I just miss her.”

“Me too.”

They ate in silence for a moment, both sad about their best friend being so far, until Raven piped up.

“So what’s this errand we have to run?”

And that’s what led them to the pet store, half an hour later, looking at fish.

“Clarke, you’ve got it bad,” Raven laughed.  “I can’t believe you’re getting a fish for this girl.”

“I am not getting the fish for her!” Clarke defended.  “I am getting this fish to prove a point.”

“Does your mom know?” Raven asked.  Clarke shook her head.  “Dude, she’s gonna kill you.”

“Better to ask forgiveness than permission.”  Clarke squinted at a dark blue beta fish.  She held up a finger in front of it, and the fish stared at her, then charged for her finger, running into the side of the case.  Clarke giggled.  “This one’s so angry, I love it.”

Clarke decided on the blue fish.  They picked out a small fish tank, a few decorative pieces, and a jar of fish food, and took it all home.

When Clarke pulled up at home, her mom’s car was in the driveway.  “Uh-oh,” she muttered.

They stepped inside and closed the door behind them.  “Clarke, is that you?” Clarke’s mom, Abby, called out.

“Yeah mom!” Clarke answered.  “It’s me and Raven.”

“Hey Abby!” Raven said.

They tried to quickly go upstairs to Clarke’s room, but Abby caught them when they were about halfway up.  “What’s that you’ve got there?” she asked.

Clarke and Raven exchanged glances.  “Um, well—“ Raven started.

“It’s a fish,” Clarke said.

“A fish?” Abby asked.

“A fish,” Clarke reiterated.  “For me.  I bought a fish.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Abby asked.  “Remember what happened last time?”

“Mom, that was like ten years ago.”

“I know, I just don’t want you to be upset if it dies in a week,” she said.

“It won’t,” Clarke said.

Abby shrugged.  “Okay, have fun.”  They started up the stairs again.  “Good to see you, Raven.”

Raven waved as they climbed the rest of the stairs.

It took them almost an hour to set up the tank and get the fish comfortable in it.  They stared at the fish swimming in the water.  “So do I feed it now or like… later?” Clarke asked.

Raven looked at her.  “This fish is gonna die.”

x

Lexa didn’t wake up until noon.  She doesn’t sleep in often, but it might have something to do with the fact that they were at the 24-hour animal hospital and didn’t get home until four in the morning.  The vet gave Minerva some medicine to make her throw up the chocolate and kept her under watch for a few hours to make sure she actually threw it up.  By then, Minnie was so tired that she fell asleep.

Lexa carried her to the car (not an easy feat as she is no lap dog) and she slept the entire ride.  The vet warned them that she would be a little groggy the next couple of days, getting over the sickness, but to make sure she eats and stays active.  Lexa was just glad that she was okay.

As soon as Lexa woke up, she checked on her dog again.  Minnie was asleep in Anya’s room today because Anya didn’t mind having her on the bed, and Anya argued that she never slept anyway so if something went wrong she would be able to take care of her.

Anya laying on her bed with her laptop out, and Minerva was asleep, curled up into her side.

Lexa walked in and sat on Anya’s bed.  She ran her hand against Minnie’s fur.  “How is she?” Lexa asked.

“She’s fine,” Anya said.  “I had to take her out to pee once, but other than that she’s slept most of the time.  I don’t blame her, she must be exhausted.”

Lexa smiled softly.  “I’m glad she’s okay.”

“Me too,” Anya said.  “That was really scary.”

Lexa nodded, and blinked away a few tears that were forming in her eyes.

“Have you told mom and dad yet?”

Anya shrugged.  “They don’t need to know.”

“Anya,” Lexa said.

“What?” Anya asked.  “They never wanted us to get a dog in the first place.  Minnie is our responsibility, so they don’t need to know.”

“I know but maybe they want to know?” Lexa said.  “They didn’t want her at first but she’s grown on them.”

“I know,” Anya said.  She didn’t reply for a moment.  “But she’s still our responsibility, and we took care of it.”

“And we can afford the vet bills?” Lexa asked.  “A high school student and a college student?  Come on, we have to tell them.”

Anya groaned.  “Fine, I’ll tell them when they get home.  In the meantime, when Minnie wakes up do you want to take her to the park?”

“Sure,” Lexa said.  “When do you think that’ll be?”

Anya shrugged.  “She’s bound to get hungry eventually.”

Lexa nodded, and jumped off Anya’s bed.  “I’ll go fill her bowl.  Let me know when she’s awake.”

“Will do,” Anya called after Lexa as she left the room.

After Lexa filled Minnie’s bowl with food, she returned to her room and turned on her laptop.  As automatically opened, she saw Clarke’s last few messages after she had signed off.  _I’ll be thinking about you._   Lexa knew Clarke had meant the dog, but the message still made her heart flutter a little.

She logged onto Tumblr and found a new message from Clarke on there too.  As soon as she read, _Hey Lex_ , she blushed.  Lexa wasn’t particularly fond of nicknames, but she liked seeing Clarke calling her “Lex” for some reason.  She typed out a quick reply.

_It was a late night at the vet, but Minnie is fine! Thank you so much for your concern, I’m sorry I had to end our conversation so abruptly last night, but it was really great talking to you :)_

After Lexa sent the message to Clarke, she went back to Skype and reread some bits of their conversation from the night before.  Lexa kept smiling at the things she read.  Clarke was sweet, and funny, and cute... God, she was in trouble.

“Lexa, what are you doing?” she groaned to herself.

“Yeah, Lexa, what _are_ you doing?” Anya asked from the doorway.  Lexa’s head shot up to find her sister staring at her with a quirked eyebrow.  “Minnie’s awake.  Park soon.”  And with those few words, Anya walked away.  Lexa knew she hadn’t heard the end of it though.

Lexa got dressed, put on her shoes, and found Minnie’s leash.  By the time she made her way to the front door, Anya and Minnie were already waiting for her.  “Ready?” Anya asked with a smirk.

Lexa nodded.  She hooked on Minnie’s leash and they left.

The walk to the park was mostly silent.  Lexa knew what Anya was doing.  Anya did this thing where when she wanted Lexa to tell her something, she wouldn’t say anything to Lexa until Lexa brought it up on her own.  And just because it had worked every other time Anya had done it, did not mean that it was going to work again.  Nope, Lexa had learned from her mistakes and Anya was just going to have to deal with it.

Lexa lasted until they got to the park (it was only a ten-minute walk).

They sat down on the grass and threw the ball for Minnie who tiredly chased after it.  Anya stared at Lexa with an eyebrow quirked and finally, Lexa sighed.  “I’ve been talking to this girl,” she muttered, looking down at the grass.

“Costia?” Anya asked.

“No,” Lexa shook her head.  “Of course not.  Her name is Clarke.”

“How did you meet this Clarke?”

Lexa gulped.  “Internet?  I don’t know I mean it just happened and she started talking to me and she’s really cool and funny and pretty.  And that’s it.”

“That’s it?” Anya asked.  Lexa nodded.  “Okay, that’s all I want to know.  Now aren’t you glad you shared that with your big sister?”

Lexa rolled her eyes, but smiled.  “Sure, whatever.”  They tossed the ball for Minnie a couple more times, and she excitedly chased after it.  “There is one more thing though,” Lexa added.

Anya groaned.  “What is it?”

“She’s from LA…”

Anya turned to her sister again.  “Lexa, what are you doing?”

Lexa shrugged innocently.  “I don’t know.”

“You know how upset you were about Costia, and, hon, I’m glad you’re getting over her, but I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“Anya, I don’t even know if she likes me,” Lexa groaned.  “And we’re just talking.  I don’t know what’s gonna happen but you wanted me to tell you so I told you.  That’s it.”

“Fine,” Anya said.

“Fine,” Lexa replied.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, taking turns throwing Minnie’s ball.  Anya glanced at Lexa, her cheery demeanor from earlier suddenly stoic and upset.  She frowned, and then said, “It is good to see you happy again though.”

Lexa glanced at Anya and smiled at her.  “Thanks.”

x

Raven had left a couple hours ago, and Clarke was watching her new fish swim circles in her tank.

“You’re an excited one aren’t you,” she muttered.  “What should I name you?”

The fish kept swimming in circles.

“Dog?  Do you like that name?”  The fish paid no mind to Clarke.  “No?  That was a dumb name anyway.  Who names a fish ‘Dog’?”  Clarke shook her head.  “What about Blue?  Nah, that’s dumb too.”  Clarke’s laptop dinged from her bed.  She glanced at it over her shoulder and headed back to her bed.  She had a new message on Skype, from Lexa.

“It’s Lexa!” Clarke exclaimed to herself.  She glanced back up at the fish who had stopped swimming in circles and was looking at her expectantly.  “Lexa?  You like that name?”  The fish swam forward and bumped into the glass.  Clarke giggled.  “Fine, but you’re explaining this one to Raven,” she muttered.

The Clarke turned her attention to the new message from Lexa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to add onto what I said before, I decided to update this fic a little early to bring a little joy to Clexa shippers/Lexa fans in this hard time. I know what happened sucks, and if you're having a hard time and need someone to talk to feel free to message me on here or on Tumblr at tatianathevampireslayer. I'm not going to let this ship die. Clexa belongs to us, not to some straight white dude who gets joy out of our pain. If we can't see happy endings in mainstream media, you can get it here (until I become a person who creates mainstream media). Just know that your sexuality is valid. You are not worthless. You are not disposable. And you will get a happy ending. In the meantime, enjoy this slow-burn, mutual pining fluff fest that I am more than happy to provide for this beautiful couple that deserves so much better than canon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of warning for this chapter: they talk about butt stuff. It's just like them laughing about stuff found up people's butts. Literally idk how that happened I just have them go where the conversation takes them. Anyway the video is real it's just a lady talking about stuff found up people's butts but yeah don't go to the link if you don't want to see that. It's p funny though.

**Commander Grumpy:** Minnie is okay!

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m so sorry I haven’t gotten back to you sooner, but she is fine

 **Griffin Door:** That’s good! I was so worried

 **Commander Grumpy:** me too

 **Commander Grumpy:** sorry I just ditched you last night

 **Griffin Door:** dude no worries, your dog is way more important

 **Commander Grumpy:** I still feel bad

 **Griffin Door:** don’t

 **Griffin Door:** besides I have something to share with you

 **Commander Grumpy:**?

 **Griffin Door:** I GOT A FISH

 **Commander Grumpy:** YOU DID NOT

 **Griffin Door:** I did                                

 **Griffin Door:** she is a blue beta fish and she is very angry so I named her lexa

 **Commander Grumpy:** excuse me

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am not angry

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m grumpy

 **Griffin Door:** haha I know I’m kidding that’s not why I named her lexa

 **Griffin Door:** I tried out a bunch of names but she liked that one best

 **Commander Grumpy:** it’s a fish

 **Commander Grumpy:** how can you tell what it likes

 **Griffin Door:** she pays attention to me when she gets excited

 **Griffin Door:** otherwise she just swims in circles

 **Commander Grumpy:** wow

 **Commander Grumpy:** you really got a fish

 **Commander Grumpy:** and you named it after me

 **Griffin Door:** yep

 **Commander Grumpy:** you are the strangest person I’ve ever spoken to

 **Griffin Door:** that’s a lie

 **Commander Grumpy:** nope, it’s true

 **Commander Grumpy:** you are very strange, Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** good strange

 **Griffin Door:** :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** you had volunteering today, right? How was that?

 **Griffin Door:** SOMEONE THREW UP ON ME

 **Commander Grumpy:** NO

 **Griffin Door:** YES

 **Griffin Door:** it happens like every week and it is awful I hate sick people

 **Commander Grumpy:** haha then why do you volunteer there?

 **Griffin Door:** it’s my moms hospital so she got me involved

 **Griffin Door:** but also it’s pretty cool sometimes

 **Griffin Door:** I’ve met a ton of interesting people

 **Griffin Door:** there was this one guy who was keeping a monkey as a pet illegally and he was bit by the monkey and had to come in cause the monkey had just gotten in a fight with a squirrel so he wasn’t sure if it had gotten rabies or not

 **Griffin Door:** I was the one who had to call animal control to report the illegal monkey

 **Commander Lexa:** wow

 **Griffin Door:** there was another guy who made a dildo out of legos and it came apart so there was just a bunch of legos up his ass

 **Commander Grumpy:** what the fuck

 **Griffin Door:** lexa, language

 **Griffin Door:** I’m p sure that’s the first time I’ve seen you curse

 **Commander Grumpy:** really?

 **Griffin Door:** yeah

 **Griffin Door:** like I can’t remember you cursing in any of our other conversations

 **Commander Grumpy:** whereas you have the mouth of a sailor

 **Griffin Door:** it’s true, I have a way with words

 **Griffin Door:** I think shit is the most common word in my vocabulary

 **Commander Grumpy:** probably

 **Commander Grumpy:** seriously though that’s disgusting

 **Commander Grumpy:** why would someone shove legos up their ass

 **Griffin Door:** you’d be surprised

 **Griffin Door:** there’s this video about all the different things that have been found shoved up people’s butts it’s hilarious

 **Griffin Door:** lemme find it for you

 **Commander Grumpy:** clarke nO

**Griffin Door:** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-jcJupBug>

**Commander Grumpy:** that was fast

 **Griffin Door:** I may or may not have it bookmarked

 **Griffin Door:** watch it

 **Griffin Door:** are u watching

 **Commander Grumpy:** A SALAMI WTF???

 **Griffin Door:** it gets worse

 **Commander Grumpy:** NOT MRS BUTTERWORTHS

 **Commander Grumpy:** HOW

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh god

 **Commander Grumpy:** a fucking flashlight what the fuck

 **Commander Grumpy: ‘** not saying you should but someone did’ omg

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke WHY

 **Griffin Door:** did you not like the video

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m crying                                       

 **Griffin Door:** I’m so sorry I thought it was funny

 **Commander Grumpy:** no it was hilarious

 **Commander Grumpy:** these people must have so much time on their hands

 **Griffin Door:** SERIOUSLY                                          

 **Griffin Door:** sorry did I just cross a line in our friendship talking about butt stuff

 **Commander Grumpy:** haha it’s all right, Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** where do you find these things

 **Griffin Door:** my friend Octavia

 **Griffin Door:** she finds the weirdest shit on the internet idk how

 **Griffin Door:** whenever I ask her she just says it’s a gift

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ll just stick with my dog videos thank you

 **Griffin Door:** too late

 **Griffin Door:** now I’m gonna send you every weird video she sends me

 **Commander Grumpy:** NO

 **Griffin Door:** IT’S TOO LATE

 **Griffin Door:** anyway

 **Griffin Door:** enough about butt stuff

 **Griffin Door:** we’ve already established that I bought a fish and was thrown up on

 **Griffin Door:** how was your day lexa?

 **Commander Grumpy:** it was fine. Minnie’s doing better so after she woke up my sister and I took her to the park

 **Griffin Door:** ooh that sounds fun!

 **Griffin Door:** I haven’t been to a park in years

 **Commander Grumpy:** why? They’re fun!

 **Griffin Door:** idk, no reason to go

 **Griffin Door:** no siblings or dog

 **Commander Grumpy:** true

 **Commander Grumpy:** I would have picnics at the park sometimes, with Costia

 **Griffin Door:** wouldn’t there be a ton of screaming kids to ruin the mood

 **Commander Grumpy:** not if you sit far away from them

 **Griffin Door:** I like that plan

 **Griffin Door:** you gotta take me on a picnic sometime, show me the ways of the park

 **Commander Grumpy:** there are no ‘ways of the park’, Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** it’s just a park

 **Griffin Door:** does that mean you don’t want to go on a picnic with me? :(

 **Commander Grumpy:** I didn’t say that

 **Griffin Door:** :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** so what are you up to, Clarke?

 **Griffin Door:** talking to a cute girl

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh, you are? Who?

 **Griffin Door:** she’s pretty and nice. Kind of a nerd though

 **Commander Grumpy:** Do you know her from school?

 **Griffin Door:** I’m talking about you, stupid

 **Commander Grumpy:** what?

 **Griffin Door:** you are the only person I’m talking to right now

 **Griffin Door:** well, you and Lexa

 **Griffin Door:** fish Lexa

 **Griffin Door:** who probably doesn’t really count as a person

 **Griffin Door:** anyway what are you up to

 **Commander Grumpy:** talking to you

 **Commander Grumpy:** I do have homework to finish though…

 **Commander Grumpy:** After everything with Minnie last night I didn’t get the chance to finish

 **Griffin Door:** so you should probably do that

 **Commander Grumpy:** I guess I should

 **Commander Grumpy:** we should do this again though

 **Commander Grumpy:** I enjoy our conversations

 **Griffin Door:** I like talking to you too Lexa :)

 **Griffin Door:** we could do same time next week? Friday night?

 **Commander Grumpy:** sure, Friday sounds good

 **Griffin Door:** so

 **Griffin Door:** Friday

 **Commander Grumpy:** yes, Friday

 **Commander Grumpy:** I will talk to you later, Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** bye Lexa

 _Commander Grumpy is offline_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, apologies for the butt stuff conversation I honestly have no idea how that happened it just did. Anyway. Enjoy the new chapter! This one was a lot of fun to write and they're both nerds. Let me know what you think :)


	8. Chapter 8

“Why is flirting so hard over the internet?”

Clarke laid on her bed with her cell phone to her ear.  She was talking to Octavia for the first time in over a week.

“Because you’re bad at flirting,” Octavia replied.

“Hey!” Clarke exclaimed.  “I am not!  You almost made out with me when you were drunk one time, remember?  It was because of my flirting.”

“Almost being the keyword, babe,” Octavia said.  “I didn’t actually make out with you.”

“You would have if Bellamy hadn’t stopped us.”

“This is true.”

“Come on, O, you’re the one who’s always good at romantic advice,” Clarke said.

“Also true,” said Octavia.  “I don’t know, you’re right, flirting online is harder than flirting in real life.  In real life you can like flip your hair or touch her or something but online all you have is your words, which, let’s be honest Clarke, is not your strong suit.”

“ _Hey!_ ”

Octavia just shrugged.  “You’re not a writer for a reason, Clarke.”

“Oh come on,” Clarke grumbled.  “There’s gotta be something I can do to figure out if she’s interested or not.”

“Well you already know she likes girls, right?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah, she told me about her ex a little.”

“Wait she was talking about her ex?”

Clarke shrugged.  “Only like twice.”

“When did they break up?” Octavia asked.

“I don’t know,” Clarke said. “A few weeks?  Maybe a month?”

“Ok first thing’s first, give the girl some space,” Octavia said.  “There is a three-month grieving period allotted after all breakups before you can pounce on someone.  It’s only respectful.”

“I’m not gonna pounce on her, O,” Clarke muttered.  “I just like her is all.  It’s not like anything can happen anyway, she’s as far as you are for all I know.”

“And that’s your other problem,” Octavia interjected.  “Even if she’s interested it doesn’t mean she’d want to do something long distance.  You have to figure that out too.”

“Well, she and her girlfriend broke up because the girlfriend was moving away…”

“Babe, you’re screwed,” Octavia said.

Clarke sighed.  “I know.”

“Now, my turn,” Octavia exclaimed.  “So remember the cute guy in my pre calc class?  Lincoln?”

“Yeah.”

“He asked me out!  Can you believe it?  I have a date this weekend!”

“That’s awesome!  I’m happy for you, O.”

Octavia began to prattle on about this guy, Lincoln, and how hot he is and how sweet he is and how excited she was for their date.  Clarke was happy for her friend, but she was only half listening, as the rest of her brain was still thinking about Lexa.

She watched as Lexa the fish swam around in circles in her tank and smiled.

x

Lexa was up to her ears in homework and rehearsals and her duties as yearbook editor, but she didn’t let that stop her from sending a quick message to Clarke mostly every day, just to check in.  Even though they had already planned to talk on Friday night, Lexa found that she still missed Clarke on the days in between.  They had a little conversation going back and forth between their inboxes, and Lexa’s day instantaneously improved whenever she had a new message from Clarke.

One time Lincoln caught her smiling at her phone.  Lexa had arrived at homeroom before him on Wednesday and she had a moment to check for messages.

_I’m not taking any art classes right now but I’m working on some stuff just for myself.  I like to go to the coffee shop down the street and sketch random people I see there, and then some of the more interesting ones I’ll paint. Maybe I’ll take classes again once I’m in college, but then again I probs won’t have the time lol_

There was nothing special about the message itself, but just hearing from Clarke was enough to make Lexa smile.  She also loved it when Clarke talked about her art.  Lexa was not artistically inclined at all, so she was in awe of Clarke’s amazing talent.  She was smiling at the message when Lincoln approached.

“What are you grinning about Commander Grumpy?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Lexa said, putting her phone down on her desk before he could see.  “And I am not grumpy!”

“You were grinning at something,” Lincoln said.  He stared her down.  “I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”

“You can try,” Lexa said, and offered an innocent smile.

Lincoln laughed.  “Remind again me why we’re friends?”

“Beats me,” Lexa said with a shrug.  “I don’t know why you put up with me, you’re much cooler than I am.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Lex,” Lincoln said.  Lexa’s cheeks flushed as she remembered when Clarke called her Lex.  “You’re pretty cool.”  Lexa smiled at him.  She was glad to have Lincoln as a friend.  “Anyway, so you remember Octavia right?  I asked her out.”

“What?  Bellamy’s sister?” Lexa asked, surprised.  Lincoln nodded.  “When?!”

“Just now.”

“What’d she say?”

“Yes!”

“Did you tell Bellamy?”

“No.”

“Are you going to?”

Just then, Bellamy walked into the room and found his seat.  Lexa and Lincoln turned to look at him.  His hair was messier than usual and he looked like he didn’t get a wink of sleep.

“Maybe later I’ll tell him,” Lincoln said nervously.  “And since when do you care about Bellamy?”

“I don’t, but older brothers are weird about these things,” Lexa said.  “I’m glad I don’t have one.”

With Lincoln adequately distracted, Lexa turned her attention back to her phone to reply to Clarke.

_That’s good you make time for your art. If it’s something you love so much it should be a priority. I’m terrible at drawing, but maybe you could teach me sometime! :P_

Lexa sent the message and put her phone away just as their teacher walked into the room.

x

Clarke was trying not to fall asleep as her homeroom teacher droned on and on about things she didn’t care about.  Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she discreetly pulled it out to check for a text message.

It was Raven.  _Lexa and Clarke sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g_

Clarke groaned.  Raven had started sending her messages like this nearly every day, not to mention all the in person remarks and the drawings she would throw at Clarke during physics.

 _Shut up_ , was Clarke’s quick reply.  Before she put her phone away she checked her Tumblr to find a new message from Lexa.  She quickly read over it and replied.

_I would love to teach you! It’s not that hard, it just takes practice. I can model for u ;)_

The teacher cleared her throat and Clarke looked up.  She was glaring daggers.  Clarke smiled and slipped her phone into her backpack.

“As I was saying,” the teacher continued.  “I know a lot of you have already applied for schools under early admission, but if not, the deadline for most places is at the end of the week.  So if you haven’t applied yet or want a last minute addition, you should hop to it.”

The bell rang and students darted from their seats, including Clarke.

She thought about what Lexa asked her once.  _Do you like the idea of being a doctor?_ Clarke still couldn’t figure that one out.  But she asked herself a different question.  _Do you like the idea of being an artist?_ Clarke didn’t even hesitate to answer that for herself.  Yes.

Maybe she was going to study the wrong thing?  Her mom would probably kill her if she did anything besides pre-med, but it wouldn’t hurt to explore something else…

That’s how Clarke ended up spending the rest of her day researching good art schools and putting together a mediocre portfolio online.  Her teachers had already checked out and didn’t care that Clarke was on her laptop all throughout class.

But Clarke realized that while she was putting together her portfolio and researching art schools, it was more fun than she had during any of her time applying for other schools.  Maybe she didn’t want to do pre-med.

In physics after lunch, Raven looked over Clarke’s shoulder.  “Dude that’s not the homework,” she said.

“I know,” Clarke replied.

“Are those art schools?” she asked.

“Maybe,” Clarke said.  “Why?”

“Well I just thought you were set on med school in the future.  What changed your mind?”

Clarke shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

“That’s awesome though,” Raven added.  “I know how much you love art, it’d be cool if you went to school for it.  You’re like crazy talented.”

“Thanks,” Clarke said bashfully.

It was the one time in class when Raven didn’t pester her about Lexa.

Even at home, Clarke continued her search for schools and by the end of the week, she had a pretty solid portfolio and almost completed applications for a few great schools.

Friday after school she was working on finishing them up when there was a knock at her bedroom door.  Clarke froze.  Was her mom home?

“Clarke, honey,” Abby called, “Can I come in?”

Clarke looked at her bed which was spread out with printouts of her art and information about various art schools.  “Uhhhh, just a second.”  She quickly gathered all the papers into a pile and stuffed them into her pillowcase.  She opened up a new window on her laptop to Google.  “Come in!”

Abby opened the door with an eyebrow raised.  “Clarke,” she said, “what are you up to?”

“Watching porn,” Clarke said.  Her mother rolled her eyes.  “Mom, I’m just doing homework.”

“You never do homework on a Friday afternoon.”

Clarke shrugged.  “I’m busy this weekend.”

Abby frowned.  “Well, I have the night off, I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner?”

Clarke blinked in surprise.  Her mother was actually trying to spend time with her.  “I can’t tonight,” Clarke said.  “I’ve got plans.”

“What kind of plans?” Abby asked.  “Going out with Raven?”

Clarke’s eyes widened.  Of course she wasn’t going to tell mom that it was an arranged conversation with a stranger on the internet.  That sounded bad.  “Umm, I have a skype date with O,” she quickly replied.

“Oh,” Abby said, still frowning.  “Well, give Octavia my love.”

“Will do.”  Clarke smiled at her mom, waiting for her to leave.

“Well,” Abby continued, “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

“Bye mom.”

“Bye.”

Clarke kept watching her mom as she left until the door was closed behind her.  She sighed in relief and took the papers out of her pillow again.  She looked through the print-outs about Pratt and Cal Arts and even though it had never been a dream of hers before, and she didn’t even know if she would be able to attend a school like these, she really wished she would get in.

Clarke saw a notification for a new message from Commander Grumpy on her Skype and her heart skipped a beat.  She quickly returned to the application pages and looked over them once more, making sure all the details were right and her portfolio was as good as it’ll get.  Meanwhile, she got a few more notifications from Skype.  After her last look over, she submitted her final applications for art school, and she felt butterflies.  She was excited about this.

After her work was done, Clarke finally opened up Skype to read the new messages from Lexa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the new update!! I'm working on more as we speak, but I'm still going to stick to the weekly updates. I'm surprised I've been keeping up with them for so long! Follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer to talk to me about the fic or clexa or anything else really.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think, and stay tuned for more! :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Commander Grumpy:** Hello Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** How are you?

 **Commander Grumpy:** Sorry, did I get the time wrong?? Time differences are weird

 **Commander Grumpy:** I don’t remember what time we were going to talk but I will keep skype open just message me when you can

 **Griffin Door:** SORRY I’M HERE

 **Griffin Door:** sorry, my mom came in my room

 **Griffin Door:** she was talking to me

 **Griffin Door:** she’s gone now so I’m all yours :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** How have you been, Clarke?

 **Griffin Door:** pretty busy this week actually

 **Griffin Door:** if I tell you something do u promise not to freak out

 **Commander Grumpy:** I promise

 **Griffin Door:** ok so I applied for a few art schools

 **Griffin Door:** like idek if I’ll get in but like now the option is maybe out there and who know??

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke, that’s amazing!

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m really happy for you

 **Griffin Door:** I haven’t told my mom yet so that’s why it was awk when she came in here

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh

 **Commander Grumpy:** are you going to tell her?

 **Griffin Door:** I will eventually

 **Griffin Door:** like

 **Griffin Door:** if I get accepted anywhere

 **Griffin Door:** THEN I’ll tell her

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke, she’s your mom, don’t you think you should tell her?

 **Griffin Door:** I will!

 **Griffin Door:** eventually…

 **Commander Grumpy:** I really am happy for you though

 **Griffin Door:** thanks :)

 **Griffin Door:** it was a lot of fun like putting together my portfolio and writing about why I wanna do art and stuff though

 **Griffin Door:** def not as stressful as all my other applications

 **Commander Grumpy:** that’s good

 **Griffin Door:** do you have any apps to finish up?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I applied for early admission for all of mine

 **Commander Grumpy:** so I should be hearing back in a few weeks

 **Griffin Door:** cool! What’s your first choice?

 **Commander Grumpy:** nyu, definitely. It’s where my sister goes.

 **Griffin Door:** and she likes it?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yeah! And the campus is awesome. There’s so much to do in New York

 **Griffin Door:** totally!

 **Commander Grumpy:** nothing to do now but wait

 **Griffin Door:** which is the worst part

 **Commander Grumpy:** true

 **Griffin Door:** but anyway enough about stressful stuff

 **Griffin Door:** how are you Lexa?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ve been good. Same amount of busy haha

 **Commander Grumpy:** my friend is on a date tonight and he’s texting me live updates so that’s fun

 **Griffin Door:** that’s adorable

 **Commander Grumpy:** he’s a sweetheart so I really hope this girl works out

 **Commander Grumpy:** he just texted me “lexa she’s so prettyyyyyy”

 **Griffin Door:** omg what a nerd! That’s awesome for him

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m really happy for him

 **Griffin Door:** lol all my friends are on dates too and I’m just here alone on a Friday night

 **Commander Grumpy:** you’re not alone, Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** this is true

 **Griffin Door:** I HAVE LEXA THE FISH WITH ME

 **Griffin Door:** and you, of course

 **Griffin Door:** we’re alone together!

 **Griffin Door:** how was your week lex? What did you do?

 **Commander Grumpy:** same as every week I guess. Minnie’s back to her old self, which is good! I’m back and forth between rehearsals and yearbook stuff and my classes.

 **Commander Grumpy:** And it’s my sister’s last weekend here before she heads back to school so that kind of sucks.

 **Griffin Door:** you miss her a lot when she’s gone?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I do. She’s my best friend. Sometimes when she’s not here I just don’t really have anyone to talk to.

 **Griffin Door:** what about your friend on a date now? You guys seem close

 **Commander Grumpy:** he’s great but I don’t know. There’s some things I can’t really talk to him about, but Anya knows everything about me.

 **Griffin Door:** I wish I could say I relate, but I don’t have any siblings.

 **Griffin Door:** my best friend just moved across the country, though, and it sucks not having her around, but we still make time for each other. I’ve been talking to her like every week. She’s actually on a date tonight too, haha.

 **Griffin Door:** idk my point is that you make time for the important people

 **Griffin Door:** and if you ever need you can always talk to me :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** thanks Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** and soon enough you’ll be at nyu WITH her!

 **Commander Grumpy:** haha, I’m crossing my fingers!

 **Griffin Door:** anyway here’s another dog video

**Griffin Door:** <http://videohall.tumblr.com/post/41900685403/today-while-walking-my-dog-i-love-that-he>

**Commander Grumpy:** oh my god

 **Griffin Door:** he’s so dumb!!!

 **Commander Grumpy:** poor buddy! Listen to him whimpering

 **Griffin Door:** he’s sad because he’s so DUMB

 **Griffin Door:** what a fucking IDIOT

 **Commander Grumpy:** you’re so mean!

 **Commander Grumpy:** you’d just be laughing about that instead of helping him

 **Commander Grumpy:** you’re not allowed to meet Minnie anymore

 **Griffin Door:** YOU WERE GONNA LET ME MEET MINNIE

 **Commander Grumpy:** maybe one day but not anymore

 **Commander Grumpy:** not if you’d just laugh at her

 **Griffin Door:** I PROMISE I WON’T LAUGH

 **Griffin Door:** I LOVE MINNIE

 **Commander Grumpy:** sorry, it’s too late

 **Griffin Door:** OK WAIT I HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR YOU

 **Commander Grumpy:** …I’m listening

 **Griffin Door:** if you let me meet Minnie I’ll let you meet Lexa

 **Commander Grumpy:** really?

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke, a fish is way less exciting than a dog

 **Commander Grumpy:** if it’s even still alive by the end of the week

 **Griffin Door:** HEY

 **Griffin Door:** RUDE

 **Griffin Door:** I GOT THIS FISH TO PROVE A POINT AND I WILL SHOW YOU I CAN TAKE CARE OF HER

 **Commander Grumpy:** I still can’t believe you got a fish out of spite.

 **Griffin Door:** AND NOW LEXA HAS A LOVING HOME BECAUSE OF IT

 **Commander Grumpy:** when was the last time you fed her?

 **Griffin Door:** THIS MORNING THANK YOU VERY MUCH

 **Commander Grumpy:** I don’t believe you

 **Griffin Door:** IT’S TRUE!!!

 **Griffin Door:** do you have a snapchat?? I will snap u every time I feed her as proof that I am not a terrible pet owner

 **Commander Grumpy:** I think I may require this proof

 **Commander Grumpy:** it’s same as my tumblr, grumpygay

 **Griffin Door:** ok I added u did u get it

 **Commander Grumpy:** Let me check

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m assuming you’re clarkeofthebipeople

 **Griffin Door:** dat me :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** nice

 **Griffin Door:** hey don’t laugh grumpygay

 **Commander Grumpy:** touché

 **Griffin Door:** muahaha my evil plan worked!

 **Griffin Door:** now that we’re friends on snapchat there is no escape!

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh no

 **Commander Grumpy:** what have I gotten myself into

 **Griffin Door:** don’t worry about it

 **Griffin Door:** you will get updates on Lexa the fish and that’s what matters

 **Griffin Door:** don’t you trust me lexa? :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** no

 **Commander Grumpy:** not at all

 **Commander Grumpy:** :P

 **Griffin Door:** you hurt me lexa

 **Griffin Door:** I thought we were friends

 **Commander Grumpy:** whatever you say, Clarke :)

 **Griffin Door:** don’t worry, I’m a joy to have on snapchat

 **Griffin Door:** just ask my friends

 **Griffin Door:** actually don’t ask them because they’ll say I’m annoying

 **Griffin Door:** but in my defense they are biased

 **Griffin Door:** you can trust me

 **Griffin Door:** so

 **Griffin Door:** you doing anything fun this weekend?

 **Griffin Door:** Lexa?

 **Griffin Door:** lexaaaaa

 **Griffin Door:** did you fall asleep

 **Griffin Door:** you probably fell asleep

 **Griffin Door:** stupid time difference lol

 **Griffin Door:** I’ll talk to you tomorrow lex!

 **Griffin Door:** goodnight <3

 _Griffin Door is offline_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Clarke and Lexa are oblivious to their mutual friends. Don't fret, they'll figure it out eventually! And to those of you asking when they're finally going to meet... I do remember Clarke saying in an earlier chapter that she and Raven are going to visit DC for spring break...but that's a long ways away! ;)  
> Anyway, as usual please comment and let me know your thoughts! I love hearing from you! Any questions/suggestions/anything hit me up here or on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY for the late update, I've been busy but it's here! Thank you for your patience so enjoy! Lots of Linctavia this chapter too, so this chapter is dedicated to all the Lincoln fans after last night's episode (I didn't watch but I heard). Lexa and Lincoln will both live on in our hearts. Anyway enough sap, enjoy the update!

Lexa woke up on Saturday morning to a snapchat from Clarke.  It was a picture of a small betta fish in a tank, with the caption “breakfast time for lexa!”  Lexa smiled at the picture.  And she had to start getting used to the common occurrence that was snapchats from Clarke because over the rest of the day, Lexa received three more snaps from Clarke.

The first one was the fish, the second one was the hospital with the caption “kill me lol”, the third one was a tired selfie after work, and the last one was another picture of Lexa the Fish.

And the same thing happened on Sunday, Lexa got five snapchat messages from Clarke over the course of the day.  She had yet to reply to any of them, but Clarke knew that she watched them.  Snapchat wasn’t really a strong suit of Lexa’s, but she used it occasionally.  These constant messages from Clarke were something new to Lexa, but she definitely liked it, especially because she had already been sent three selfies.  She never screenshotted them because she didn’t want Clarke to know, but each selfie was more cute than the last.  Lexa figured she should reply with something eventually, but she wasn’t sure what.

Sunday was also the day that Anya was leaving for school again.  Lexa and Anya went out to lunch with their parents before she left, and when they got home, Lexa helped her sister with some last-minute packing.

“How much did you need help with again?” Lexa asked as she stuffed the last of Anya’s books into a box.

Anya looked around.  “Well you’re done with that so now all that’s left is all my clothes.”

“Anya!  Shouldn’t you have done this earlier?”

Anya just shrugged.  “Eh, I’m lazy.  And I figured you wouldn’t help if I started earlier.”

“You start classes _tomorrow_ ,” Lexa said.

“I know, I’ll still get there tonight.”

“Yeah, like midnight.”

“I like driving at night,” Anya retorted.  She pointed to a pile of clothes on the ground.  “You take that pile; I’ll get the closet.”

Lexa raised an eyebrow and picked up a shirt.  “These had better not be dirty.”

Anya brushed off her accusations.  “No, no, they’re clean.  Just…not folded.”

Lexa sniffed the shirt, and when it didn’t smell used, she shrugged and folded it.  She started to pile up folded clothes in Anya’s suitcase while Anya just haphazardly shoved clothes into tote bags.

They worked in content silence for a few minutes, but Lexa could feel Anya’s eyes boring into the back of her head.  “What is it?” she asked.  “I can feel you staring.”  She looked over to her sister, whose lips quirked up into a smirk.

“How’s Clarke?” Anya asked.

Lexa rolled her eyes and went back to folding clothes.  “That’s none of your business.”

“Come on, you don’t want to tell your sister before I leave and you can’t?” she pouted.

“You act like you’re leaving the country,” Lexa chuckled.  “I can still call you whenever.”

“And you’ll come visit when you get in?” Anya asked.

“ _If_ I get in,” Lexa said.  “Then yes, I will come spend the weekend with you and you can show me everything.”

“You’re gonna get in—“

“Don’t say that, you’ll jinx it!”

“Fine, fine,” Anya muttered.  “You’re way too superstitious.”  They both continued to work in silence for a moment, before Anya added, “And if you ever want to talk about you-know-who, or anything, you can just call me, you know that, right?”  Anya put the last shirt into a bag and closed it, then sat on the bed and looked up at Lexa.

“I know,” Lexa sighed.  She also folded the last article of clothing in her pile and put it into Anya’s suitcase.  “I’m just going to miss you.”

Anya stood up and enveloped Lexa into a tight embrace.  Lexa sighed and held onto her sister, savoring in this last moment they would have together for a few months.  “I’m gonna miss you too, kid,” Anya muttered into Lexa’s shoulder.

They broke apart and Lexa smiled.  “Come on, let’s get this stuff down to your car.”

It only took two trips for Anya and Lexa to carry all of her Anya’s bags and boxes outside to the car parked out front.  Lexa loaded up the car while Anya went inside to say goodbye to their parents.  When she returned, they hugged once more.  Lexa squeezed her tighter and held back the tears she felt coming.  She was going to miss her sister.

“Text me when you get there, ok?” Lexa said.

Anya nodded.  “I will, don’t worry.”

Lexa watched Anya get into the front seat of the car, and waved as she drove off.  She sighed and headed back into the house and sprawled out on her bed.  A couple minutes later, Minnie came in and jumped up next to her.  She rubbed Minnie’s soft head and got out her phone, figuring it was about time to send Clarke a snapchat.

x

Clarke was worried that her incessant snapchats for Lexa were annoying.  She had viewed every single one but hadn’t replied to any of them.  She hadn’t even screenshotted one, and Clarke always made sure to look cute when she sent over selfies.  Maybe Lexa just wasn’t a big snapchat user, but come on, what high school girls aren’t big snapchat users?

Clarke was at Raven’s house Sunday afternoon, watching a movie on Netflix while Raven tinkered with the remote.  “I swear Clarke, when I’m done I’ll be able to change channels on the neighbors’ TV across the street!” Raven muttered.

“Why would you want to do that?” Clarke asked.

“Why _not_?” was Raven’s retort.  Clarke chuckled at her friend’s excitement.  Her phone buzzed in her lap and she absently unlocked it and checked the snapchat notification.  It was a new snap from Lexa.

Clarke bolted upright in her seat and looked at the name on her screen.  She quickly tapped to open it.

The picture was a selfie of Lexa and Minnie, on Lexa’s bed with the caption “missing sister already :(“.  She screenshotted it before it was over and her lips quirked up into a small smile.

“What was that?” Raven asked.  “Just because I’m concentrating doesn’t mean I’m oblivious.”

Clarke glared at Raven but answered anyway.  “Lexa sent me a snap,” she said casually.

Raven finally looked away from the remote and at Clarke.  “Fucking finally!”   She set the remote down on the table in front of her and reached for Clarke’s phone.  “Let me see!”

“Dude!” Clarke gasped as Raven tackled her on the couch.  “It’s already gone!”

“Please, like _you_ didn’t screenshot it.”  Raven snatched the phone out of Clarke’s hands and went to her pictures to find the snapchat.  “Aha!  Yeah she’s still cute.  Does she always have to take selfies with her dog?”

“Hey, Minnie’s cute!” Clarke defended.

“What happened to her sister?” Raven asked.

“Left for college,” Clarke replied.

“Are you gonna send anything back?”

“Maybe, if you’d give me back my fucking phone!”

Raven laughed and tossed the phone back to Clarke.  She sent back a selfie with the caption “sorry <3”.

After a while, Raven went back to tinkering with the remote and Clarke pretended to be interested in the movie.  It was some sports movie that Raven _loved_ for some reason that was beyond Clarke.  Instead she decided to snapchat a video of Raven working on the remote.

Clarke hit record and zoomed in on Raven.  “This bitch thinks she’s MacGyver,” she said.

“Shut the fuck up,” was Raven’s quick response, without even looking up from her work.  Clarke started laughing, and the time ran out.  She sent it to all of their friends, and then she added Lexa to it as well.

After Lexa’s first snapchat and Clarke’s response, Lexa started sending her snaps more often.  Sometimes they were selfies but more often they were of Minnie or her food or where she was.  Clarke’s favorites were the selfies.  She screenshot all of them when they came.  Lexa still hadn’t sent her any videos and Clarke wanted to know what Lexa’s voice sounded like.

Throughout the week, Clarke started sending her more and more video snaps in which she spoke as a subtle nudge for Lexa to do the same but apparently Lexa hadn’t picked up on that yet.  At least for now she had these really cute selfies to look at, and her friends would tease her incessantly about it.

x

Lexa learned three things in her first week of being snapchat friends with Clarke.

First, she learned that Clarke _loved_ snapchat.  She would get at least three new snaps a day, but it was usually more, and sometimes even went into the double digits.  Clarke would snap literally everything- morning selfies, her feet, her friends, her food, her fish, you name it Clarke had probably sent Lexa a picture of it.

Secondly, Clarke saved a lot of Lexa’s snapchats.  It was very specific ones too.  Clarke didn’t save the snaps of Minnie (which were the ones people usually saved).  No, Clarke made sure to save all of Lexa’s selfies.  That may have been the reason Lexa gradually started to send more selfies, because her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw the notification that Clarke had taken a screenshot.

And lastly, Lexa learned that she was incredibly attracted to Clarke’s voice.  Clarke had sent her six video snapchats (yes, six, because she remembered what Clarke said in all of them).  Clarke’s voice was this gravely, relaxed, kind of sexy sound and Lexa felt herself blushing the moment she first heard it.  She even had to replay the snapchat (though she would argue that she replayed it because she thought it was funny).  And don’t even get her started on the sound of Clarke’s laugh because if angels laughed that’s how it would sound.

As much as Lexa would not like to admit it, Clarke’s voice was kind of sexy.  And it was ruining her.

Lexa was in class on Friday morning when she got another snap from Clarke.  She discreetly plugged in her earbuds and put one in and opened the snap under her desk.  It was of Clarke, in bed, in her pajamas, groaning.  Lexa’s cheeks flushed when she heard this.  “I hate mornings,” Clarke said.  And the snap ended.

Lexa chuckled.  It had to be six in the morning over there and Clarke was just waking up for school.  Suddenly, a crumbled up piece of paper landed on Lexa’s desk.  She looked around and saw Lincoln behind her with a raised eyebrow.  She rolled her eyes and opened the piece of paper.

 _Who was that?_ was scrawled on the paper in Lincoln’s messy writing.

 _None of your business_ , Lexa wrote, and tossed it back to him when the teacher wasn’t looking.

Lincoln didn’t respond again, but Lexa could feel him staring at her.

When class was over, she tried to escape quickly, but she wasn’t fast enough and Lincoln approached her.  Thankfully, he didn’t ask about Clarke again.

“What are you doing after school?” he asked.

“Homework,” Lexa said.  “Why?”

“Octavia wants me to meet her brother after school but he doesn’t know we’re dating yet,” Lincoln replied.  Lexa stared at him blankly.  “She asked me to invite you so he’d think we’re just a group of friends hanging out.”

“Absolutely not,” Lexa said and started to walk toward her locker.

“What?” Lincoln followed after her.  “Why?”

“Do you really think you can keep it a secret from her brother that you’re dating?” Lexa asked.  “You two are disgusting.”

“Come on, we’ll tone it down a little.”

Lexa opened her locker and stuffed some books into it.  Before she could reply to Lincoln, Octavia appeared out of thin air.  “Hey Linc!” she said, and pecked him on the lips.

“Hey babe,” Lincoln replied, eyes growing wide.

Octavia turned to Lexa.  “Anyway, Lexa, thank you so much for agreeing to come with us after school,” she said.  “I know we don’t hang out much but I just don’t want my brother to freak because I’m hanging out with Lincoln.”

Lexa put on a smile while internally glaring daggers at Lincoln.  “Of course!  I’m happy to help.”

Octavia let out a squeal.  “You’re the best!” she said, and wrapped Lexa in a quick hug.  “I’ll see you both later.”  Before she left, she kissed Lincoln again, this time a little more tongue than Lexa was comfortable witnessing.  She cleared her throat and Octavia jumped back and smiled at Lexa once again before walking away.

“You already told her I was going,” Lexa said.  It wasn’t a question.  Lincoln looked at his feet like a guilty dog.

“I already told her you were going,” he admitted.  “Sorry, Lex.”

“No, it’s fine, I’ll do it,” Lexa said.  “But you owe me.”

Lincoln got this big, dorky grin on his face.  He hugged Lexa tightly and kissed her on the cheek.  “You’re the _best_!” he said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lexa grumbled.  “Get off me.”

Lincoln and Lexa met the Blakes at a nearby diner after school.  Octavia and Bellamy had already arrived.

“You’re hanging out with Lincoln and Lexa?” Bellamy asked his sister.  “They’re seniors.”

“Bell, I’m supposed to be a senior too, remember?” Octavia grumbled.  “Just because you don’t have any friends doesn’t mean you can complain about mine.”

Wanting to dissipate the awkward sibling tension, Lexa spoke up.  “Hey Bellamy,” she said.

“Hi Lexa,” Bellamy replied.  “I don’t know how you put up with my sister.”

“I put up with _you_ in history,” Lexa quipped back, and winked at Octavia.  Octavia giggled with joy and they went to order.

Lexa just got a milkshake and also picked off some of Lincoln’s fries.  They chatted and got to know the Blake siblings, who had apparently never left California before they moved out here.  Lexa could spot Octavia’s hand on Lincoln’s thigh under the table and rolled her eyes.  _Discreet, my ass_ , she thought.  If Bellamy didn’t know what was going on with them he had to be the most oblivious idiot on the planet.

At one point, Lexa noticed her phone buzz on the table in front of her.  A new snapchat from Clarke.  She watched and it was another video of her bothering Raven.  That was Clarke’s favorite thing to snapchat, Lexa noticed.  She smiled.

She heard Octavia laugh from across the table, and she was on her phone.  “Sorry,” Octavia said when she noticed everyone was looking at her.  “Snap from my best friend.”  Octavia then put her phone away and went back to staring at Lincoln, while Bellamy continued to try to hold a conversation with Lexa, not even noticing his sister’s behavior.  Yeah, he was an idiot, Lexa concluded.

Eventually, Lincoln got up to use the restroom and Octavia followed shortly after him.  They had been gone for five minutes and things with Bellamy were getting awkward.

“I know they’re dating, you know,” Bellamy said after some tense silence.  “I’m not an idiot.”

Lexa sighed.  “Good, I was honestly a little worried,” she laughed.

“Yeah, O’s not the best at being discreet about things,” he said.  “Lincoln seems like a nice guy.”

“He is,” Lexa said.  “He’s my best friend.”

“I’m trying not to be the protective older brother for once,” Bellamy explained.  “She’s almost an adult and I know she can take care of herself, but it’s hard.”

“I have an older sister,” Lexa said.  “Once you stop being intrusive you two will be closer than ever, I promise.”

Bellamy laughed.  “I’m working on it.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, but when a few more minutes passed and they still hadn’t returned it started to get uncomfortable.  “Should I go get them?” Lexa asked.  “I don’t think they’d like it if you went and told them to stop making out.”

“Go for it,” Bellamy said.  “I don’t want to see that anyway.”

Once Lexa located Lincoln and Octavia in the family restroom (ew), she shielded her eyes and informed them it was time to leave.

By the time Lexa got home, it was later than usual.  She took Minnie out for a quick walk and then threw the ball around for her a little.  After dinner she was in her pajamas and into bed.  She opened her laptop to find a few messages on Skype from Clarke.  She checked the time and it was almost 8:30.  She was a little late to their Skype date, no, conversation.  But she hoped Clarke wouldn’t mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, apologies for the late update. Hope you like it, let me know your thoughts! And don't worry, Clarke and Lexa will figure out their mutual friends eventually, but this IS slow-burn after all ;) Follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer for updates or if you just need someone to talk to!


	11. Chapter 11

**Griffin Door:** Lexa!

 **Griffin Door:** hellooo?

 **Griffin Door:** lexa?

 **Griffin Door:** lexaaaaaaa

 **Griffin Door:** where are youuuuu

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m so sorry, Clarke!

 **Commander Grumpy:** I had a busy afternoon and I just finished dinner

 **Griffin Door:** oh das fine

 **Griffin Door:** hi Lexa :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** Hello Clarke. How was your week?

 **Griffin Door:** I mean I kept you updated on most of it

 **Griffin Door:** don’t you love being friends with me on snapchat?

 **Commander Grumpy:** it is quite amusing watching you make fun of your friend

 **Griffin Door:** hey, Raven’s always asking for it

 **Griffin Door:** she teases me way more

 **Commander Grumpy:** I can’t imagine what she’d tease you about

 **Griffin Door:** oh, um, just stuff

 **Griffin Door:** friend stuff

 **Griffin Door:** it’s all in good fun

 **Commander Grumpy:** ok, weirdo

 **Griffin Door:** I am enjoying all the selfies from you though ;)

 **Commander Grumpy:** I noticed

 **Commander Grumpy:** what about the pictures of Minnie though she’s cute am I right?

 **Griffin Door:** Minnie’s adorable

 **Griffin Door:** but so are you!

 **Commander Grumpy:** shut up

 **Griffin Door:** how’s rehearsals for your play thingy going

 **Commander Grumpy:** you mean Grease? It’s good. I’m not in it but I’m in charge of everything and tbh the actors keep asking me the stupidest questions like how do you not know your own dress size and why should I know?????

 **Griffin Door:** whoa there

 **Griffin Door:** sounds stressful

 **Commander Grumpy:** it is

 **Commander Grumpy:** I was prop master last year which sucked because people kept losing their props well it’s not my fault they didn’t put it on the fucking prOP TABLE LIKE THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO

 **Commander Grumpy:** anyway that was only a lot of responsibility and stupidity I had to deal with show week so that was fine

 **Commander Grumpy:** but like as AD I’m there the whole time and it’s just going to keep getting progressively worse until the show is over

 **Griffin Door:** that’s rough buddy

 **Griffin Door:** you ever need a break just hmu we’ll have a movie night or something

 **Commander Grumpy:** and how would that work when you’re on the other side of the country?

 **Griffin Door:** idk we’ll just watch the same movie and talk about it on here it’s not that hard

 **Commander Grumpy:** sounds fun

 **Commander Grumpy:** what movie?

 **Griffin Door:** TITANIC

 **Commander Grumpy:** not titanic

 **Griffin Door:** WHY NOT??

 **Commander Grumpy:** I mean it’s a pretty heavy movie. If I’m taking a break from stress I’d rather watch something lighter

 **Griffin Door:** it is pretty heavy, it sank to the bottom of the ocean

 **Commander Grumpy:** ….

 **Griffin Door:** too soon?

 **Commander Grumpy:** no, just too lame

 **Griffin Door:** HEY

 **Griffin Door:** I AM HILARIOUS THANK YOU VERY MUCH

 **Commander Grumpy:** eh

 **Griffin Door:** you’re mean

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m sorry, Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** sorry you’re not funny lol

 **Griffin Door:** DAMMIT LEXA

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m sorry, I’m done

 **Commander Grumpy:** I promise

 **Griffin Door:** you sure?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yes, I’m sure

 **Griffin Door:** good

 **Griffin Door:** so how are you? Your sister’s been gone like a week now right?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yeah, almost. I’m fine, I still text her like every day

 **Griffin Door:** that’s good :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** yeah, I miss her though

 **Commander Grumpy:** minnie does too

 **Commander Grumpy:** she usually sleeps with Anya but she’s started sleeping in my room every night

 **Griffin Door:** awwwww how cute

 **Griffin Door:** send pics pls

 **Commander Grumpy:** well she’s not in here yet

 **Commander Grumpy:** she’ll probably be coming in soon though

 **Commander Grumpy:** and she’s such a brat she takes up like most of the bed

 **Griffin Door:** lol same

 **Commander Grumpy:** oh, but my friend and this girl are like officially dating. I had to meet her brother today to cover for them because they haven’t told him that they’re dating yet

 **Commander Grumpy:** he totally knows though, they’re not very discreet

 **Griffin Door:** that’s hilarious

 **Griffin Door:** yeah my best friend just started dating this guy but her brother is SUPER protective so idk if he knows yet or what he did

 **Griffin Door:** she’d probably call me if he did something too dramatic

 **Griffin Door:** if he does I might have to fly out to DC and kick him myself

 **Commander Grumpy:** DC?

 **Griffin Door:** yea                                                                                             

 **Commander Grumpy:** like Walk djkkjkjfdkjdfdsklm

 **Commander Grumpy:** jkaew23ik3 m,.sdz

 **Griffin Door:** MINNIE

 **Griffin Door:** HI MINNIE HOW ARE YOU

 **Commander Grumpy:** sorry about that

 **Commander Grumpy:** she’s used to getting twice the amount of attention but now that Anya’s gone there’s only one of me

 **Griffin Door:** it’s fine, she’s still cute

 **Griffin Door:** like you

 **Commander Grumpy:** shut up

 **Griffin Door:** how old is Minnie?

 **Commander Grumpy:** five years

 **Commander Grumpy:** we adopted her four years ago

 **Commander Grumpy:** which was probably not the smartest idea considering Anya’s in college and I’m about to start and my parents didn’t want a dog in the first place

 **Commander Grumpy:** but anya’s looking to get an apartment next year and I know she wants a place that allows dogs

 **Griffin Door:** That’s smart! Are there a lot of places that allow dogs in the city?

 **Commander Grumpy:** idk, Anya’s doing all that research. I’ll probably live with her if klkdkjdkseil34j

 **Commander Grumpy:** sorry

 **Commander Grumpy:** if I get in is what I was trying to say                           

 **Commander Grumpy:** and if they don’t allow dogs we can just smuggle her in, she doesn’t bark much

 **Griffin Door:** SECRET DOG

 **Griffin Door:** sounds like you’ve got it all figured out, that’s good

 **Griffin Door:** why didn’t your parents want a dog?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I don’t know, maybe they didn’t think we would take care of it and they didn’t want to get stuck taking care of it?

 **Commander Grumpy:** plus anya has kind of a strained relationship with our parents

 **Commander Grumpy:** but that’s not my story to tell

 **Griffin Door:** oops sorry if it seemed like I was prying or something

 **Commander Grumpy:** no it’s fine

 **Griffin Door:** anyway

 **Griffin Door:** on a lighter note how bout another dog video?

 **Commander Grumpy:** dbc ccn w32we323eq32e

 **Griffin Door:** don’t get jealous Minnie you’re cute too

 **Commander Grumpy:** mdkmdfk,ll.’’/;pojnklk

 **Griffin Door:** ok ok, sorry Minnie, no dog video

 **Griffin Door:** you’re the most important dog

 **Commander Grumpy:** kldfs,md/../;l

_Incoming Call from Commander Grumpy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! Early update as an apology for being late last week. I've got a couple more already written so we'll see when I end up posting them! Sorry to leave you hanging like that but comment and let me know what you think! Some exciting stuff is coming up in this story and I love love love getting your feedback :) Follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for too long, so here's an early update! :)

When Clarke saw those words on the screen, her heart started racing.

 _Incoming Call from Commander Grumpy_.

Surely it had to be an accident, right?  Lexa didn’t notice or Minnie hit the wrong key or something.  But Clarke really, really wanted to answer.  Was that bad?  Would Lexa be upset if she answered?  Before she could think about that anymore, Clarke found herself clicking the green button to accept the call.  She held her breath as the screen loaded.

The first thing Clarke saw was black.  She actually wasn’t sure if the call was done loading until she saw the black mass move.  The black mass was actually Minnie and she was climbing on top of Lexa.  Lexa was laughing and, _wow_ , it was a beautiful sound that Clarke wanted to commit to her memory.  She almost didn’t want to interrupt the moment between a girl and her dog, but simply observing any longer might seem a bit intrusive.

Clarke cleared her throat.  “Lexa?” she said.

The dog continued to move but the figure underneath froze.  Lexa pushed Minnie off of her and sat upright.  “C-clarke?”

Clarke’s breath caught in her throat when she heard the sound of Lexa saying her name, and she suddenly felt the desire to hear that sound every day of her life.

“Hi,” Clarke said awkwardly.  “Sorry, I should’ve figured it was an accident.  What’s the skype equivalent of a butt dial?  Who knows.  I can go, if you want—“

“No!” Lexa said, a little too quickly.  “I mean, it’s fine.  You can stay.”

Clarke and Lexa just stared at each other through the barrier that was their computer screens for a moment.  Sure, the two had talked a lot over the last few weeks, but never had they come face to face like this.  Or, at least as close as you could get to being face to face when you’re on opposite ends of the country.

“Sorry about that,” Lexa muttered after a moment.  “Minnie must have hit one of the keys.”

“No, it’s—it’s fine,” Clarke replied.  She felt herself smiling, and when Lexa noticed, this, she started to grin too.  Clarke let out a soft laugh and soon enough, both of them were giggling messes on their beds.  “This is weird, right?” Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded through her laughter.  “But, like, a good weird.”

“Yeah,” Clarke agreed.  She watched Lexa for another moment, and then started, “I like, um—I mean—you have a really nice voice.”

Clarke cringed.  That must have sounded so awkward or creepy or just plain weird.

Lexa smiled though and maybe it was the shitty camera quality, but Clarke could’ve sworn she saw Lexa’s cheeks tinge pink a little.  “I like your voice too.”

Suddenly there was a whimper from Lexa’s end of the call.  Minnie crawled on top of Lexa and started licking her face.  Lexa groaned.  “Minnie!  Get off!”

Clarke laughed.  “Awwww, how can you say no to that face?” she asked.  “She’s so cute!”

“Try saying that when you have her stinky dog breath in your face,” Lexa complained.  Eventually she restrained the dog and got Minnie to sit still next to her.  She scratched the top of her head.

“So this is your room?” Clarke asked.  She looked at what she could see of Lexa’s bedroom.  The dark blue sheets underneath her on the bed, the cream colored walls… that was about it.

Lexa nodded.  “Do you want to see it?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Clarke said.

Lexa got off the bed and picked up her laptop to show Clarke around.  There was a neat desk against the opposite wall, a closet door with a pride flag and some pictures with friends taped to it, a hamper, and a guitar on its stand in the corner.

“It’s not much,” Lexa said.

“I love it,” Clarke replied.  “It’s very you.”

Lexa chucked.  “Oh, please.  Now it’s your turn.”

“My turn?” Clarke asked.

“Your room.”

Clarke looked around at her room.  “Uhhhhh….”  It was much more cluttered than Lexa’s room was, so she felt a little embarrassed when she turned the camera around to reveal the different colored walls, the messy desk, and the clothes strewn everywhere.  “Sorry, it’s a little messy,” Clarke muttered.

“I like it,” Lexa said.

Clarke smiled.  “Ooh, do you wanna see Lexa?” she exclaimed.  Before Lexa could respond, Clarke got up and walked her laptop over to where her fish was sitting in her tank in the corner and showed her.  “Lexa the Fish, meet Lexa the Person.”

The fish just kept swimming in circles.

“At least I know she’s still alive,” Lexa said.  The person, not the fish, because fish can’t talk.

“HEY!” Clarke turned her computer around and made her way back to her bed.  “I am offended by what you’re insinuating right now.”

“I’m not insinuating, I think I’m being very direct,” Lexa replied.

“Still, rude.” Lexa laughed.  “As an apology for your rudeness you should play me something.”

“Play you something?” Lexa asked.                  

Clarke nodded.  “On guitar.  Don’t play dumb you told me you play and I saw it in the corner!”

Lexa looked away from the camera bashfully.  “I don’t know, Clarke…”

“Pleeeeeaaaase?” Clarke asked, and stuck her lower lip out in a pout.

Lexa looked back at her screen and sighed.  “Don’t give me that look!” she protested, but Clarke didn’t let up.  “Fine!” Lexa gasped.  “But not now, my parents are asleep.  I don’t want to wake them up.”

“Oh, ok,” Clarke said.  “Sorry.  I’m gonna hold you to that promise, though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lexa dismissed.  “You still have to teach me how to draw.”

Clarke laughed.  “That’s something that’s a little difficult to do virtually.”

“True.”

Clarke couldn’t stop grinning.  Talking to Lexa like this felt right.  After the initial awkwardness, conversation came easy between them, switching from topic to topic without thinking about it.  At one point Minnie fell asleep on top of Lexa, and Lexa had to push her off to the side of the bed.  She didn’t even wake up; that dog was out like a light.

When Clarke glanced at the clock for the first time since the call started, she was surprised at how much time had passed.  “Shit, it’s late!”  The clock read 12:13 AM.

“Crap, you have to be up early, right?” Lexa asked.

Clarke nodded.  “Wait,” she started, “isn’t it like three in the morning over there?”

“Fuck is it that late?” Lexa’s eyes widened.  “I didn’t even notice.  But I’m not the one who has to be up at like the ass of dawn tomorrow.”

“It’s not the ass of dawn, I’ll get like six hours of sleep.  That’s like, normal for me,” Clarke defended.

“Still,” Lexa said.

“You’re going to make me go to sleep now, aren’t you?” Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded.  “It’s for your own good, Clarke.”

“Boo, you whore,” Clarke pouted.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” Lexa said.

“I know I’m sorry,” Clarke replied.

They both sighed.  Neither one said anything for a moment, and neither wanted to end the call.  They just looked at each other on their screens.

“This was nice,” Lexa finally said.

“Yeah,” Clarke agreed.  “I like talking to you.”

“Me too.”

Another beat of silence between them that was broken when Lexa yawned heavily.

“Is it bedtime?” Clarke asked.

Lexa smiled tiredly.  “It’s bedtime,” she said.

“Goodnight, Lexa.”

“Goodnight, Clarke.”

And with that, the call ended.  Clarke fell asleep with a smile on her face that night.

x

Lexa didn’t wake up until noon on Saturday.  She’s the type of person to get exactly eight hours of sleep, no matter how tired she is.  For a moment, Lexa wasn’t sure why she woke up so late, but then she remembered the night before, and talking with Clarke for five hours.  Was it really that long?  It didn’t seem like that long.

Lexa yawned and looked around; Minnie was nowhere to be seen.  She climbed out of bed and went out to the kitchen.

“Morning sleepyhead,” her dad laughed.  “Or should I say afternoon.”

Lexa just groaned.

“I didn’t know you went back to sleep.”

“Back to sleep?” she asked.

“Yeah, you were up at eight this morning to let Minerva out,” he said.

Lexa shrugged.  She did not remember that, but that would explain why Minnie wasn’t there when she woke up.

“How’s your sister?” her mom asked.

“What?” Lexa asked, confused.

“Your sister,” her mom clarified.  “You were up late talking to someone last night, I just assumed it was Anya.”

“Oh, yeah!” Lexa quickly reassured.  “Yeah it was her.  She’s good.  We’re just trying to talk a lot before she gets too busy with school.”

“Makes sense,” she said.

“What are you doing today, hon?” her dad asked.

Lexa shrugged.  “Homework, probably.”

“You work too hard; why don’t you take a break?  Hang out with Lincoln?”

“Maybe,” Lexa said.  “He’s seeing someone though so he’s pretty busy with her.”

“Good for him.”

Lexa made small talk with her parents while she ate breakfast/lunch, and headed back up to her room.

Before Lexa started her homework, she decided to call Lincoln.  He picked up on the first ring.

“Hey Lex!” Lincoln said.  “What’s up?”

“Hey, are you busy tonight?” Lexa asked.  “I feel like we haven’t hung out in forever.  Like, just us.”

“I’m going out with Octavia tonight, sorry.”  He frowned.  “What about tomorrow?  We could get lunch and go back to my place?”

“Yeah, sure,” Lexa said.  “Thanks, Lincoln.”

“Of course,” Lincoln replied.  “See you tomorrow.”

The rest of Lexa’s afternoon was spent doing homework.  She entertained herself by sending Clarke a few snaps throughout the day.  A picture of the pile of books with the caption “kill me lol”.  Minnie fell asleep on her bed, so Lexa started balancing books on her head and snapped a video whenever she added a new one.

On the fifth book, Lexa was recording her video when she placed it on top of the pile.  She balanced it successfully, but then a dog barked from outside and Minnie jerked awake, sending all of the books toppling to the ground.  “NO!” Lexa shouted.

Despite all her distractions, Lexa finished most of her homework and was greeted at the end of the day with a tired selfie from Clarke, which she decided to screenshot for the first time.

x

Saturday game night is something that hadn’t happened in a while, and Jasper and Monty practically begged that they start it up again this week.  That’s how Clarke found herself at Monty’s house at 10pm, drinking beer and playing video games.

“You guys are nerds,” Raven drunkenly yelled as she watched a three player game of Brawl between Clarke, Jasper, and Monty.  Clarke’s character of choice was Link because he was agile and could attack from a distance, but sometimes when Jasper was drunk and playing as Bowser, she didn’t stand a chance.

“You won’t be saying that when we break out Mario Kart!” Monty shouted back.

Everyone was on their last life, and Clarke was barely hanging on by a thread when the large character trampled her again.  “Damn it Jasper!” she cursed.

“That wasn’t even on purpose,” Jasper slurred.

Somehow, Monty maneuvered to get the power up, and neither Clarke nor Jasper could get out of the way in time.  They were both obliterated in seconds.

“FUCK!” they both yelled.

“How are you guys already drunk?” Monty asked.

“Easy for you to say, you’re only on your first beer,” Jasper snapped back.

“I’m not drunk,” Clarke protested.  “I’ll have you know I hold my liquor very well.”  As Clarke said this, the controller slipped out of her hand and almost hit Monty in the face.  “Okay, maybe I’m a little tipsy.”

“Now that Clarke’s drunk maybe she’ll talk to us about Lexa,” Raven said, jumping onto Clarke’s lap.

“Fuck off, Raven,” Clarke muttered.

“Come oooon Clarke,” Jasper prodded.  “Tell us.”

“What’s there to tell?” Clarke asked.  “She’s really cute and cool and nice.  That’s it.”

They stared at her for a moment before Clarke broke.

“God she’s so pretty,” Clarke groaned and put her face in her hands.  “And her laugh is so beautiful like. Like sunshine.  And I love talking to her we talked for like five hours last night and didn’t even realize it.”

“You were talking on skype for five hours?” Monty asked.

“No,” Clarke said.  “I mean, yes, but no.  We were like typing and then her dog called me but we just stayed on the call.”

“Wait, let me get this straight—I mean bi,” Raven said.  Clarke glared at her.  “You were _video chatting_ with her for _five hours_?”

“Yes?”

“Dude you can’t even hang out with us for five hours.”

“Fuck _off_!”  She hit Raven in the face with a pillow.

“I think it’s cute seeing Clarke all sappy like this,” Monty said.

“Don’t make me push you off this fucking couch,” Clarke replied.

“Who’s up for Mario Kart?” Jasper yelled.

Cheers of agreement all around.

Halfway through the game Clarke threw Raven’s controller across the room out of spite.  Raven almost slapped her in the face.

x

Lincoln arrived at Lexa’s house at 12:30 on Sunday to pick her up for lunch.  They got fast food and brought it back to Lincoln’s place so they could just play a movie in the background and talk.

“How are things with Octavia?” Lexa asked with a mouthful of fries.

Lincoln’s face lit up.  “It’s really good,” he said.  “I like her a lot.”

Lexa smiled at her friend.  “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” he replied and took a bite of food.  “Anything new with you?” he asked suspiciously.

Lexa didn’t look at him, but asked, “If I tell you something you have to promise not to make fun of me or anything, ok?”  Lincoln nodded.  She took a deep breath.  “So there’s this girl—“

“I _knew_ it!” Lincoln exclaimed.  Lexa glared at him.  “Sorry.  I’m listening.  Continue.”

“Well I met her online and we’ve been talking a lot and she’s really cool,” Lexa said.  “And I wanted to tell you because you asked a few times and I felt bad keeping it from you.”

“I figured you’d tell me when you’re ready,” Lincoln said.  “What changed your mind?”

“Well Friday night, I accidentally called her on Skype and she answered and we were just talking for like _hours_ , and god, it was so great.  I don’t know.  It was just so easy to talk to her about anything.”

She looked at Lincoln and he was grinning at her.  “Lexa, are you going soft on me?”

Lexa chucked.  “Shut up,” she said, and shoved him playfully.  “There’s another thing though.  She lives in LA.  That’s like, really far.”

“That’s where Octavia’s from,” Lincoln said.

“Really?” Lexa blinked.  Interesting.  “But still, it’s far.”

“I know, but she makes you happy?” Lincoln asked.

Lexa nodded, and a smile captured her lips.  “Yeah.”

“Then I like her already,” he replied.  They laughed and finished watching their movie in content.

The next day at school was busy.  Lexa had to miss one of her classes to take pictures for the yearbook at some awards ceremony, then spent her lunch talking to the teacher about what she missed.  After school was rehearsal, but after an hour and a half, she was free to go home.

Her parents were waiting for her when she got home.  “Look what came in the mail!” her dad exclaimed.

He was holding three envelopes from colleges she had applied to.  She scanned the names of the schools, but nothing filled her with excitement.  “Anything from NYU?” she asked.

Her mom shook her head.  “Not yet, but I’m sure we’ll hear back soon.”

Lexa nodded and took the envelopes to the table.  She opened the first one – Cornell.  She skimmed it quickly.  “Dear Miss Woods, we regret to inform you….”

Her parents frowned.  “What?!”

“Chill, it’s an Ivy League, I wasn’t expecting to get in anyway,” Lexa said.  She didn’t care.  The other two envelopes were slightly bigger so she would at least find out that she’s going to college.  She went to the envelope for University of Florida and ASU.  _We are pleased to inform you…. We are pleased to inform you_ ….

“I got in!” she said.  “I’m going to college!”

Her parents hugged her.  “Congrats!” her mom said.

“We should celebrate!” her dad said.

“It’s fine, we don’t have to,” Lexa replied.  “I have homework anyway.  Maybe later this week?”

“Of course!  We can go out to your favorite restaurant for dinner or something.”

Lexa smiled.  “I’d like that.”

After a few minutes, Lexa made her way to her room.  She quickly snapped a picture of her acceptance letters with the caption “guess who’s going to college!”, and opened her laptop to get to work.  A few minutes later, she got a notification for a skype message from Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the resolution to that cliffhanger! The early update was encouraged by all of the amazing comments you all left on the last chapter, like, I'm so happy you all are liking the story as much as I am and you all make me so excited to write more! Anyway I hope you keep enjoying it because I have a lot more planned for these nerds and the story :) Thanks so much for all your support.
> 
> Also, I'm going to start tagging new chapters with "inyc fic" when I post them on tumblr, as well as updates when I'm writing, so make sure to follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer


	13. Chapter 13

**Griffin Door:** CONGRATS BRO

 **Griffin Door:** UR GOIN TO COLLEGE

 **Griffin Door:** HIGH FIVE

 **Commander Grumpy:** aren’t you in class right now?

 **Griffin Door:** ….

 **Griffin Door:** maybe

 **Commander Grumpy:** pay attention!

 **Griffin Door:** come on there’s like three months of school left

 **Griffin Door:** you can’t expect me to actually apply myself anymore

 **Commander Grumpy:** you’re hilarious

 **Commander Grumpy:** you know if you fail after you get into college they can take back your acceptance

 **Griffin Door:** I’m not gonna fail

 **Griffin Door:** ye of little faith

 **Griffin Door:** I’m a great test taker

 **Commander Grumpy:** what class is it?

 **Griffin Door:** physics

 **Griffin Door:** also my friend Raven can help me if I need it

 **Griffin Door:** she’s like a literal genius

 **Griffin Door:** just like how lexa’s a literal angel?

 **Commander Grumpy:** What?

 **Griffin Door:** kjl adkjs

 **Griffin Door:** sorry Raven hijacked for a sec

 **Griffin Door:** don’t listen to anything she says shes dumb

 **Commander Grumpy:** you just called her a literal genius

 **Griffin Door:** Clarke I like this girllksljk

 **Griffin Door:** DAMMIT RAVEN

 **Griffin Door:** hold on

 **Commander Grumpy:**?

 **Griffin Door:** ok I moved across the room so she won’t be bothering us anymore

 **Commander Grumpy:** she was kind of funny

 **Griffin Door:** DON’T TELL HER THAT

 **Griffin Door:** IT’LL GO TO HER HEAD

 **Commander Grumpy:** hey you complimented her first by calling her a literal genius

 **Griffin Door:** true

 **Griffin Door:** that’s the last time I do that

 **Griffin Door:** ANYWAY back to my original reason for the message

 **Griffin Door:** UR GOING TO COLLEGE

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am!

 **Griffin Door:** any word from NYU yet?

 **Commander Grumpy:** not yet, but hopefully soon

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m just relieved to know I’ll be getting a higher education

 **Commander Grumpy:** I was scared I wouldn’t get in anywhere so I just obsessively applied for a ton of schools

 **Griffin Door:** same

 **Commander Grumpy:** do you know when you’ll hear back from schools?

 **Griffin Door:** probs not til like next month

 **Griffin Door:** and even later for the art schools

 **Griffin Door:** so I’ll be freaking out until then

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m sure you’ll get in somewhere

 **Griffin Door:** I hope

 **Commander Grumpy:** how’s class

 **Griffin Door:** it’s fine

 **Commander Grumpy:** what are you learning about today?

 **Griffin Door:** lol no fuckin clue

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** What?  I promise I’ll ace the test next week

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ll believe you when it happens

 **Griffin Door:** omg you never trust me with anything

 **Commander Grumpy:** maybe I just like teasing you

 **Griffin Door:** I’m sure you do ;)

 **Griffin Door:** sorry was that too forward

 **Griffin Door:** I’m just messing with you

 **Commander Grumpy:** you think you’re so funny, don’t you Clarke?

 **Griffin Door:** maybe I do

 **Griffin Door:** what’s it to ya

 **Commander Grumpy:** how many people know that you’re actually a giant nerd?

 **Griffin Door:** ONLY ONE AND DON’T SPREAD THAT AROUND

 **Commander Grumpy:** I know, I know, your reputation

 **Griffin Door:** don’t you forget it buddy

 **Griffin Door:** oh my god raven keeps flipping me off from across the room

 **Griffin Door:** how has the teacher not noticed yet

 **Commander Grumpy:** how have they not noticed that you’re not paying attention?

 **Griffin Door:** touché

 **Griffin Door:** but still that’s rude

 **Griffin Door:** this is the kind of abuse I put up with every day

 **Commander Grumpy:** You poor child

 **Griffin Door:** I KNOW

 **Griffin Door:** you were being sarcastic weren’t you

 **Commander Grumpy:** yes, I was

 **Griffin Door:** so how’s the rest of your week looking? We still on for friday?

 **Commander Grumpy:** busy but I’m sure Friday works still

 **Griffin Door:** good

 **Griffin Door:** because I like talking to you

 **Commander Grumpy:** I like talking to you too, Clarke

 **Commander Grumpy:** :)

 **Griffin Door:** and hey if we decide to do a movie night sometime we can just do a video call and watch it together!!

 **Griffin Door:** or would that be weird

 **Griffin Door:** because I really liked actually talking to you too

 **Commander Grumpy:** I would really like that

 **Griffin Door:** yeah?

 **Griffin Door:** how bout Friday?

 **Commander Grumpy:** Friday?

 **Griffin Door:** yeah, friday

 **Griffin Door:** I’ll even let you pick the movie

 **Commander Grumpy:** ok

 **Griffin Door:** sweet, then it’s a date :)

 **Griffin Door:** crAP TEAHCER IS YELLING AT ME GOTTA GO

 **Griffin Door:** TALK TOUF FRIDAY

 **Griffin Door:** BYE LEXA

 **Commander Grumpy:** bye Clarke

_Griffin Door is offline._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this week. I think I'll be getting back to regularly scheduled weekly updates now so hopefully this can hold you over until next Wednesday! Don't worry, the next chapter will be worth the wait ;) I say this every chapter but thank you so much for all your wonderful comments on every single chapter! You all keep me inspired every day <3
> 
> Anyway, I'm about to graduate college so things are crazy here with papers and final script due dates and job hunting. I have a couple chapters up my sleeve so I think I'm good to keep updating until I have time to write again. But follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer for updates on my life or if you just want to bother me :)


	14. Chapter 14

Lexa couldn’t stop thinking about Clarke.  Did Clarke like her?  Was it a date?  Could it technically be a date even though it was over Skype?  She decided they would watch _The Princess Bride_ because she knew they both liked the movie, and now Friday couldn’t get here fast enough.

Over the next few days, Lexa received a couple more acceptance letters in the mail, but nothing from NYU yet.  She was starting to get nervous.  Sure, the other schools were fine, but she really wanted to be with her sister again, and in New York.

On Thursday, Lexa was at her locker, digging through it trying to find a book she could have _sworn_ was in there, when someone came up behind her.  Surprisingly, it was Octavia.

“Lexa!  What are you doing tomorrow night?”  Before giving Lexa the chance to answer, she continued.  “You have to clear your schedule.  My mom’s going out of town so you and Lincoln are coming over for a fun night in, yeah?”

“Well, actually I—“                                                      

“Great!  See you tomorrow, you’re the best!”  Before leaving, Octavia hugged Lexa tightly, and ran off.

“What just happened?” Lexa asked herself.  She sighed and continued looking through her locker, but didn’t let the event pass.  There was someone who might have answers.

She confronted Lincoln before class later.  “What’s happening with Octavia tomorrow?”

“Her mom’s out of town,” he said.  “She thought it would be weird if it was just us two and Bellamy, so she wanted to invite you too.  I mean that was her excuse.  You’re also kind of her only friend here besides me, so she wants to hang out with you.”

“She does?” Lexa asked with a sigh.

“Why?  What’s up?”

“Well, I sort of had plans with Clarke tomorrow night,” Lexa said.  “But it’s no big deal we were just going to watch a movie.  I can reschedule, I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“You sure?” Lincoln asked.  “I know how much you like Clarke.”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Lexa lied.  “I’d love to get to know Octavia a little better.”

That day after school she sent a quick message to Clarke on Tumblr.

_Hey, I’m so sorry, but something came up tomorrow night. Can we reschedule movie night?_

Lexa frowned, but hit send, hoping Clarke wouldn’t be too disappointed.  She put her phone away and turned her attention to the front of the class when her teacher started talking.

x

When Clarke opened her new message on Tumblr, she felt her heart drop in her chest.  She had been looking forward to their sort of maybe date, but now that Lexa backed out, she wasn’t sure if they were still on the same page.

Maybe Lexa realized Clarke wanted it to be a date (at least, as much of a date they could have over the internet) and that’s why she backed out.

Her disappointment was visibly noticeable.  Raven kicked her foot.

“Why so glum, dude?” Raven asked.

“That obvious?” Clarke replied.  “Lexa just cancelled on me.  She didn’t say why.”

“Boo, that sucks.”

“I don’t know what I did.  Do you think I was being too forward saying it’s a date like that?  God that was stupid!”

“Hey, don’t say that!” Raven protested.  “I’m sure she’s just busy.  She’d be crazy not to like you.”

“I know,” Clarke sighed.  “I was just really excited about tomorrow.”

“I know you were, boo,” Raven said.  “Why don’t we do something tomorrow?  Movie at my place?  Just us, no boys.”

Clarke felt herself smiling.  Usually Raven was an asshole, but sometimes, when it mattered, she was a damn good friend.  “Yeah, sure.  Thanks Raven.”

Their teacher shushed them as it was the middle of class, but Clarke didn’t really care.  Instead of paying attention, she started doodling in her notebook.  It wasn’t until class was almost over that she realized what she was drawing when a familiar pair of eyes were looking up at her.  She quickly scribbled it out and turned the page before Raven saw.

After school she collapsed on her bed, exhausted.  Even if she doesn’t have any extra-curriculars, school itself was still tiring.  She quickly got up and gave some food to Lexa the Fish and smiled at her.  “At least you won’t ditch me,” Clarke mumbled.

Clarke went back to her bed and opened Tumblr.  She still hadn’t responded to Lexa’s message so she typed one out really quick.

 _It’s fine, I hope everything’s ok_.

Maybe the aloof method would work.  If she didn’t seem too excited to reschedule with Lexa, maybe Lexa would realize what she’s missing out on and jump on the opportunity to spend some time with Clarke, albeit, virtually.

Clarke sent the message and tossed her phone to the end of her bed.  She turned over and groaned into her pillow.  Crushes suck.

x

Lincoln had offered to drive Lexa to Bellamy and Octavia’s house that night.  They were supposed to meet at seven, and Lexa got home from rehearsal at five so she had a little bit of time to kill.  She decided to take Minnie for a walk while she checked her phone.

Lexa hadn’t gotten any new snaps from Clarke all day so she knew something was up.  She checked Tumblr for a message and when she found Clarke’s her heart fell.  She seemed really disappointed.  Granted, Lexa didn’t have a lot to go off of but there wasn’t a single exclamation mark in Clarke’s message.  Clarke _always_ used exclamation marks.  Lexa sent a quick reply.

_I’m so sorry, Clarke, trust me I’d much rather watch a movie with you tonight.  I was roped into hanging out with my friend’s new girlfriend_

It wasn’t much of an excuse, but it was the truth.  She would rather hang out with Clarke tonight, but she didn’t want to disappoint Lincoln, or Octavia.

She and Minnie arrived at the park and Lexa tossed a ball around for her for a little while, until Minnie got bored and started sniffing around.  They walked back to the house and Lexa got ready for her night.

Lincoln arrived at seven on the dot.  Lexa had already informed her parents of her plans that night, so she ran out to Lincoln’s car and got inside.

Bellamy and Octavia’s house was still not completely moved in, and a couple boxes were still stacked up on the side.  That was probably why they had to wait until their mom was gone to have guests over.

That, and the alcohol.  It wasn’t a party or anything, but Bellamy was old enough to have a convincing fake ID so he picked up a six pack of beer as well as a bottle of wine, which Lexa was grateful for.  She didn’t really drink, but sometimes her parents would let her have a glass of wine with dinner.  When she tried beer she almost gagged.

Octavia greeted them at the door and gave Lincoln a quick kiss before leading them inside.  Bellamy came out of the kitchen with some chips and dip.  “I can make popcorn too, if anyone wants.”

“Ooh, yes please!” Octavia said.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Popcorn sounds good,” Lexa said with a shrug.  She sent a playful smile to Bellamy who just chuckled and retreated back to the kitchen.

“So we can watch a movie but I also just wanted to hang out,” Octavia said, as she gave everybody drinks.  “Lexa, beer or wine?”

“Wine, please.”

“Let’s watch something we’ve all already seen so we can talk over it,” Lincoln suggested.

“Great idea!” Octavia said.  “How about Titanic?”  Lincoln and Lexa both laughed.  “What’s so funny?”

“I haven’t seen Titanic,” Lexa admitted.

“WHAT?!” Octavia shrieked.  “That’s like, my _favorite_ movie!  That was like go-to sleepover movie with my friends back home!”

Lexa just shrugged.  “Sorry,” she said.                                                   

Octavia sighed.  “Ok, ok, I’ll take your Titanic virginity another time.”

Bellamy came back with the popcorn, and eventually they all settled on Harry Potter.

An hour in, the movie was long forgotten and they were playing truth or dare.  Well, more like truth or truth, seeing as no one was actually picking dare.  Octavia and Lincoln were comfortable with each other, and he had an arm around her.  Bellamy didn’t seem to care.

“Lexa!” Octavia exclaimed.  “Your turn.  Truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

“Boring,” Bellamy muttered jokingly.

“Hey, you picked truth too!” Lexa argued.

“Yeah, and I never want to hear about the fact that you made out with Raven ever again,” Octavia said with a horrified look on her face.  Bellamy just shrugged.  “So, Lexa, do you have a crush on anybody?”

“Booooring,” Bellamy said again.

“Shut the fuck up, Bell.”  Octavia shoved him.

“No,” Lexa immediately answered.

“Lex, play fair,” Lincoln said with a raised eyebrow.

Octavia squealed with joy.  “Ooh, you do?? Someone at school?  What’s his name?”

Lexa glared daggers at Lincoln.  “I can’t believe you would sell me out like that!”  Octavia and Bellamy were looking at her encouragingly, and it was probably the wine, but she started talking.  “Well I’m gay so it’s a she.  And it’s no one you would know.  I met her online and she’s like, really cool and stuff.  I don’t know.  She’s from LA though.”

“LA?  Maybe we know her,” Bellamy joked.  Lexa laughed.

“That’s so cute!” Octavia said.  “Ok, my turn, someone ask me!”

“Truth or dare,” Bellamy said.

“Truth!”

They thought for a minute.  “Tell us a secret,” Lincoln said with a challenging glare.

Octavia wanted to think of something good.  “Ooh, I got it!” she said after a moment.  “One time, last year, I almost kissed my best friend Clarke.”

Lexa froze.  “Clarke?”

“Lame, I already knew that,” Bellamy grumbled.

“That’s not fair you know like everything about me!” Octavia said.  “Besides, this is for the ones we don’t know!”

“Did you say Clarke?” Lexa asked again.  She could feel her heart pounding in her ears.  It couldn’t be… LA was way too big.  There was no way a coincidence like this could happen.  “Like, a girl Clarke?  From LA?”  Now that she thought about it, Clarke may have mentioned a friend named Octavia, she just assumed the friend was also from LA.

Octavia gave her a weird look.  “Yeah, my best friend.”

Clarke had also mentioned a best friend who just moved across the country…. To DC.

No way.

Lexa took a deep breath.  There was only one way she would find out.  “Clarke… Griffin?” she asked.

Lincoln stared wide eyed, because he was starting to piece together what was happening.  He cursed under his breath.

“What the fuck?” Octavia gasped.

At the same time, Bellamy asked, “You know Clarke?”

“Uhhhhh,” Lexa mumbled.  She had no idea what to say, especially now that she had just admitted to having a crush on Octavia’s best friend.

“Wait a minute,” Octavia whispered, now starting to figure things out too.  “You’re Lexa?  Like, _the_ Lexa?”

“What do you mean _the_ Lexa?”

“Clarke told me about you!”

“She did?  What did she say?”

“She never told me you were from DC!”

“I never told her.”

“What the fuck is going on?!” Bellamy yelled, extremely confused.

Lexa’s heart was still racing.  What was even happening right now?  Octavia was Clarke’s best friend?  Bellamy was the protective older brother she had mentioned?  _Lincoln_ was the guy her friend was dating?  They had been talking about the same people all this time.

While Lexa was on the verge of a mental breakdown trying to figure out what all this meant, Octavia tried to explain the situation to Bellamy.  “You know the girl Lexa was talking about earlier?” Octavia asked him.  Bellamy nodded.  “Clarke.  _Our_ Clarke!”

“The one she has a crush on?” Bellamy asked, starting to get it.

Lexa’s eyes widened.  “Wait, don’t tell her that!  It’s not like, a big deal or anything, and like, I didn’t know you guys know her and I wouldn’t have said that stuff otherwise, like she’s cool and all and I like talking to her but that’s weird and what we have now is—“

“Lexa!” Octavia said to cut her off.  Lexa stopped rambling and blinked.  “It’s fine, we won’t tell her anything you don’t want us to.”

Lexa sighed in relief.  “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

“But what I _am_ going to do,” Octavia started, jumping off the couch to sit next to Lexa, “is blow her fucking mind.”  Octavia took a selfie of herself and Lexa, and sent it to Clarke.  No caption, no explanation.  “Give her a minute.”

x

Clarke and Raven sat silently watching _Titanic_ on the TV.  Clarke sighed.

“It’s not the same without O,” Raven groaned.

Clarke mumbled her agreement as she watched people freeze to death in the water on screen.  “It’s less fun when she’s not making comments about every scene.”  Clarke’s phone buzzed in her pocket, so she maneuvered to look at it.  “Speak of the devil,” she said, when she saw a new text message from Octavia.

Clarke opened the message to find a selfie from Octavia, who had said she was hanging out with some new friends tonight.  It was the other person in the selfie that threw her off.

“What the fuck?” Clarke gasped.

“What is it?” Raven asked.

“Is that..?”  Clarke turned her phone to Raven so she could look at the picture.

“What the _fuck_?!” Raven yelled.  “That’s fucking Lexa!  _Your_ Lexa!”

“She’s not _my_ Lexa,” Clarke said.  “But that is her?  I’m not going crazy?”

“No!  What the _fuck_ is she doing with Octavia?” Raven asked.  “Does Octavia know?”

“Does she know _about_ Lexa?  Yeah.  Does she know that’s _my_ Lexa?  No idea.”

Raven’s eyes lit up as she got an idea.  She smirked at Clarke.  “We could find out.”

“How?”

And before Clarke could protest, Raven swiped Clarke’s phone, hit the ‘call’ button, and put it on speaker.

Octavia picked up on the first ring.

“Why hello, my dear friend Clarke,” Octavia said.

“The way she says that makes me think she knows,” Raven said.

“Why, whatever are you talking about Raven?” Octavia asked all too innocently.

Finally, Clarke spoke up.  “You know Lexa?!”

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line, and eventually another voice spoke up.

“Hey, Clarke,” Lexa said sheepishly.

Everyone was silent for a moment, but that was broken by Raven when she said, again, “What the _fuck_?!”

“How long have you known?” Clarke asked, still in shock.

“We just figured it out,” Lexa admitted.  “She mentioned a friend named Clarke and I realized all the other coincidences and we just sort of…put it together.”

“Honestly I’m surprised it took you fools so long to figure it out,” Octavia said.

Clarke still could not wrap her mind around this crazy coincidence.  “What the fuck?” she said again.

“Okay, well I’ll give you time to let this sink in,” Octavia said.  “But I’m sure you two will have a lot to talk about tomorrow!”

“O-okay,” Clarke stuttered out.

“Bye! Love you!”

“Bye Clarke,” Lexa said.

“Bye Lexa.”

Clarke and Raven listened to the other phone like click off.  They stared at each other.

“What the _fuck_?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU'VE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT AND HERE IT IS. Sorry about the little cliffhanger but hey, at least they finally figured it out! There's still a lot in store for these two idiots but thanks for reading and for all your awesome comments that make me look forward to posting new chapters. You guys are the best :) Follow me on Tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY for the late update, it completely slipped my mind yesterday!! If that happens again you have permission to yell at me, just message me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer. Anyway, enjoy!

**Unknown:** Hello Clarke, this is Lexa. Octavia gave me your phone number, she said you wouldn’t mind. I apologize if tonight was weird or anything and I honestly didn’t realize that I knew your friends and if I did I would’ve told you. Anyway, sorry again, but I hope we’re okay. -Lexa

 **Clarke Griffin:** LEXA omg no we’re totally fine I’m just like completely shocked??? I didn’t even know you were from DC??? Like this is so weird but also kind of cool? Idk it’s almost like you’re real haha

 **Lexa:** I am real, Clarke! But that’s good, I was worried this was too weird and I like messed up or something

 **Clarke Griffin:** Of course I know you’re real but like, we have a real life connection now and you’re not just some mythical entity on the internet. Does that make sense?

 **Lexa:** Yeah, I get it. Like your existence is more tangible

 **Clarke Griffin:** Yeah, something like that

 **Clarke Griffin:** Also what’s ur last name so I can put it in my phone?

 **Lexa:** Woods

 **Clarke Griffin:** thx

 **Clarke Griffin:** So how’d you get roped into hanging out with Octavia lol

 **Lexa Woods:** She’s dating Lincoln!

 **Clarke Griffin:** I can’t believe your best friend is dating my best friend. So weird.

 **Lexa Woods:** Tell me about it. I’m still processing myself.

 **Clarke Griffin:** Do I need to let you get back to the party?

 **Lexa Woods:** It’s not a party, we’re just watching Harry Potter

 **Lexa Woods:** Although Octavia may have mentioned having childhood pictures of you somewhere, so if you wanted to go I can ask her about those…

 **Clarke Griffin:** NO! Just keep watching the movie and talking to me. Harry Potter’s great.

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’m much cooler than those losers anyway

 **Lexa Woods:** Sure you are

 **Clarke Griffin:** Sorry but WHAT THE FUCK I’m still processing this

 **Clarke Griffin:** WHAT THE FUCK

 **Clarke Griffin:** like

 **Clarke Griffin:** you know Octavia and Bellamy

 **Lexa Woods:** Remember the annoying transfer student in my history class I mentioned?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Yeah

 **Lexa Woods:** Bellamy

 **Clarke Griffin:** omg

 **Lexa Woods:** He’s not so bad now

 **Lexa Woods:** Don’t tell him I said that

 **Clarke Griffin:** Don’t worry, I won’t. Last thing that kid needs is a bigger ego

 **Lexa Woods:** Good, because I have a reputation too

 **Clarke Griffin:** It’s ok, I’m the only one who knows you’re a softie

 **Lexa Woods:** >:(

 **Clarke Griffin:** This is cool

 **Lexa Woods:** What is?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Texting you

 **Lexa Woods:** Yeah

 **Clarke Griffin:** Like it’s my direct line to you. I don’t have to go on Skype or Tumblr or Snapchat to contact you anymore. I can just text you whenever.

 **Clarke Griffin:** I could even call you if I wanted

 **Clarke Griffin:** Oh the power!

 **Lexa Woods:** With great power comes great responsibility. Don’t abuse it

 **Clarke Griffin:** Sorry, I can’t make any promises ;)

 **Lexa Woods:** Then I can’t promise I won’t block you on tumblr

 **Clarke Griffin:** Noooooooo lexa why!!

 **Lexa Woods:** Clarke, I’m joking

 **Clarke Griffin:** y u do that

 **Lexa Woods:** It’s fun

 **Lexa Woods:** What do you need my tumblr for anymore when you have a direct line to me now?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Hey, don’t turn those words around on me, I’m just excited is all!

 **Lexa Woods:** To talk to me?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Yeah!

 **Lexa Woods:** Haha why?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Because I like talking to you :)

 **Lexa Woods:** I like talking to you too

 **Lexa Woods:** What are you doing now Clarke?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Watchin a movie w Raven

 **Lexa Woods:** Oh, sorry                                               

 **Clarke Griffin:** No it’s fine it’s Titanic I’ve seen it like 80 times

 **Lexa Woods:** Oh, ok

 **Lexa Woods:** Also, that reminds me, I hate to break it to you but Octavia said she was going to take my Titanic virginity

 **Clarke Griffin:** WHAT NO THAT WAS MY JOB

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’M GOING TO HAVE SOME WORDS WITH HER

 **Lexa Woods:** I mean she actually lives near me so it’ll be easier for her than you

 **Clarke Griffin:** NO YOU HAVE TO WAIT

 **Clarke Griffin:** What about spring break?

 **Lexa Woods:** What?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Beginning of March me and Raven are actually coming out to DC to visit O, we could just all watch Titanic together?

 **Lexa Woods:** Wait you’re coming here?

 **Lexa Woods:** Like, here here?

 **Clarke Griffin:** If by here here you mean DC then yeah

 **Lexa Woods:** What the fuck

 **Clarke Griffin:** Ok, sorry, bad idea nvm

 **Lexa Woods:** No, sorry I’m just still processing I think??

 **Clarke Griffin:** Ohhh ok. So u down?

 **Lexa Woods:** I guess, if you can convince Octavia to wait that long

 **Lexa Woods:** It’s only a few weeks I’m sure she won’t mind

 **Clarke Griffin:** You don’t know Octavia she’s the most impatient son of a bitch

 **Lexa Woods:** I can tell her you said that…

 **Clarke Griffin:** WAIT NO

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’ll talk to her. Might have to sell one of my vital organs to get her to wait but it’s worth it if I can take your virginity

 **Clarke Griffin:** um

 **Clarke Griffin:** Titanic virginity

 **Clarke Griffin:** sorry I meant Titanic

 **Lexa Woods:** Beginning of March, that’s so soon…

 **Clarke Griffin:** Good soon or bad soon?

 **Lexa Woods:** I don’t know I think I’m still just like whaaaat

 **Lexa Woods:** How did we not realize this sooner?

 **Clarke Griffin:** I mean you’re pretty distracting so I’m not surprised I didn’t notice

 **Lexa Woods:** Why am I distracting? It’s Minnie isn’t it?

 **Clarke Griffin:** No it’s you

 **Clarke Griffin:** Cause you’re pretty :)

 **Lexa Woods:** Shut up

 **Clarke Griffin:** Ok sorry I was wrong

 **Clarke Griffin:** You’re beautiful

 **Lexa Woods:** >.<

 **Lexa Woods:** Thank you, Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** :)

 **Clarke Griffin:** How’s the party going?

 **Lexa Woods:** Octavia fell asleep so Bellamy’s trying to entertain us

 **Clarke Griffin:** Ooh, good luck

 **Lexa Woods:** I think Lincoln might take me home soon

 **Clarke Griffin:** He safe to drive?

 **Lexa Woods:** He doesn’t drink

 **Clarke Griffin:** Nice

 **Lexa Woods:** Yeah we’re leaving. He’s carrying Octavia to bed and then we’re gonna head out

 **Clarke Griffin:** Text me when you’re home safe

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m home

 **Lexa Woods:** It’s late here so I’m going to bed now, maybe some sleep will help me process cause this is still weird haha

 **Lexa Woods:** Goodnight Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** Goodnight Lexa <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your amazing comments and everything!! The fic passed 200 comments and 1000 kudos with the last update so just WOW, like you guys are the best. Thanks for supporting this story because I have so much fun writing it and that so many of you really like it makes it worthwhile <3


	16. Chapter 16

Upon initially waking up in the morning, Lexa had forgotten about the events of the previous night, until she checked her phone to find a text message from Clarke.  Like, an actual text message.  From about five minutes ago.

 **Clarke Griffin:** fuck it’s so early fucking kill me

Lexa laughed and looked at the time.  If it was a little after nine here in DC it would’ve been six in the morning that she woke up.  She typed out a quick message, heart fluttering in her chest.

 **Lexa Woods:** Good morning Clarke :)

Minnie was still asleep in Lexa’s bed.  Lexa reached out and scratched her behind the ears, and she let out a satisfied whine.  Lexa’s phone buzzed again with a new message.

 **Clarke Griffin:** Don’t give me that smile you’re three hours ahead it’s not fair

Lexa chuckled and replied.

 **Lexa Woods:** Too early?

It was only a few seconds before she got a new message from Clarke.

 **Clarke Griffin:** The sun isn’t even out yet omg

 **Clarke Griffin:** I gotta get ready but I’ll text you after work

Lexa couldn’t help the grin that captured her lips.  She hoped these conversations with Clarke would become a regular thing.  Not because of her crush, which she admitted out loud for the first time last night.  Sure, she had talked about Clarke with Anya and Lincoln, but she never said the word “crush”.  She was just really intrigued by Clarke and enjoyed talking to her.  Apparently Lincoln saw right through her.  Lexa just hoped that Octavia and Bellamy would keep their word and not tell Clarke anything.

It’s not like Lexa expected anything to come out of their relationship, especially with Clarke being all the way across the country.  Then again, she was going to be visiting in less than a month…

Lexa shook her head.  She couldn’t dwell on the thought of what could happen with them.  She enjoyed their relationship for what it was, and Clarke was already becoming a good friend of hers.  Lexa didn’t have a lot of people she would consider good friends, but Clarke somehow managed to squeeze her way in.

Lexa’s day was fairly uneventful.  She worked on her homework, took Minnie for a walk, and started texting Clarke again when she was done volunteering.

At least, it was uneventful until the mail came that afternoon and Lexa found a letter from NYU at the top of the pile.

Lexa’s eyes widened.  Before even taking the mail inside she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter.  _Dear Miss Woods, We are pleased to offer you a spot in our freshman class of the upcoming school year…_

Lexa didn’t even have to read anymore.  She was overjoyed!  She had to tell her parents, she had to call Anya!  But what she found herself doing was calling the last person she texted, Clarke.

Clarke picked up after a few rings.  “Lexa?  What’s up?”

“I GOT IN!” Lexa yelled into the phone in excitement.

“What?” Clarke asked, confused.

“NYU!” Lexa exclaimed.  “My letter came today!  I got in!”

Clarke whooped with joy.  “I knew you would!  That’s awesome!  What did your sister say?”

“I, uhh,” Lexa started.  “I haven’t told her yet.  I don’t know.  I just got so excited and you were the first person I wanted to tell.”  Clarke couldn’t even see her, but Lexa felt herself blush.

“Really?” Clarke said.  “Well I’m really happy for you, Lex.  I’m glad you called me.  We should celebrate!”

Lexa laughed.  “How?”

“I’m… not sure.  I’ll think of something,” Clarke said.  “You should go tell your family though!  They’ll be happy.”

Lexa nodded vigorously.  “I will! Sorry if I interrupted anything, I’ll- I’ll go,” she said.  “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know,” Lexa replied.  And she really didn’t.  She was just happy that she got in and she was excited that Clarke was happy for her and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

“I’ll talk to you later, Lexa,” Clarke said, and Lexa could hear her smiling.

“Bye Clarke.”

 Lexa didn’t dwell on her talk with Clarke for too long, and instead rushed inside to tell her parents the good news.

She called Anya a couple hours later, after her parents took her out for lunch in celebration.  Later that afternoon, she sat on her bed with Minnie’s head in her lap and called Anya.

“You got in, didn’t you?” her sister asked the moment she answered the call.

“How did you know?” Lexa asked, smiling.

“Why else would you call me?”

“Anya, we’ve been talking like every day,” Lexa said.

“Still,” Anya muttered.  “You have to come visit now!  And you can help me pick out an apartment if you’re gonna be living with me next year!”

“I’d love to!” Lexa exclaimed.

“When’s your spring break?  You gotta come up for the week!”

Lexa froze.  Well, she supposed now would be as good a time as any to tell Anya her recent discovery.

“Actually, I don’t think I can come for spring break,” she started.

“Why?” Anya frowned.

“Well you remember Clarke?” Lexa asked.  Anya made a noise in affirmation.  “So _apparently_ Clarke’s best friend Octavia just moved here and she’s now dating Lincoln and we kind of have mutual friends now I guess?  And she had already made plans to come to spring break to see Octavia.”

“So let me get this straight,” Anya said.  “Your girlfriend—“

“She’s _not_ my girlfriend!”

“Fine, your internet gal pal is best friends with _your_ best friend’s new girlfriend and she’s coming to DC?”

“That’s right,” Lexa said.

“Holy shit, I gotta come home that week,” Anya said excitedly.  “I need to see how this plays out.”

“Hey!  I thought we were talking about when I’m going to visit you, not the other way around!”

“Fine, we can just do like this weekend,” Anya said, and Lexa could hear the pout in her voice.

“Really?  That soon?” Lexa asked.  She was excited to go see the campus and visit her sister, but it seemed like everything was happening so fast.

“Yeah, before I get crazy busy with papers,” Anya explained.  “Fuck papers.  Lex, enjoy your paper-less life while you still can.”

“I have a research paper for AP Lit,” Lexa said.

“That’s cause you’re fucking crazy and take AP classes,” Anya quipped back.  “This weekend, though!  Just let me know what time your train will get here and I’ll pick you up.”

“You’re the best!”  Lexa could barely contain her excitement.

x

Monday was a slow day, as per usual, and by lunchtime Clarke was just about ready to burn down the building.  The only thing getting her through the day was texting Lexa.  She picked at her sandwich while checking her phone for any new messages, but nothing was there for her.

Jasper and Monty slid into seats across from her.

“So I hear we can just ask Octavia for updates on your girlfriend?” Jasper said pointedly.

Clarke’s eyes widened.  “How much did Raven tell you?”

“Oh, I told them everything,” Raven replied with a smirk as she took her spot next to Clarke.

Clarke turned and glared daggers at her.  “I’m going to kill you, you know that?”

Raven just shrugged.  “You’re too lazy, you’ll get tired of trying to kill me after like five minutes and take a nap.”

“This is true,” Clarke sighed.

“You guys are visiting O in a couple weeks, right?” Monty asked.  “Does that mean you’ll see Lexa too?

Clarke nodded.  “I think we’re gonna meet up.”

“You mean _make out_ ,” Raven piped in.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“It’s true though.”

“I don’t know!” Clarke said.  “I don’t even know if she likes me, and even though I am gonna see her in person, that won’t make a relationship any easier after we leave.  And who knows what I’m even doing after high school!  I was kind of hoping to get into Cal Arts but that’s still here and she’ll be in New York.”

“Damn, you got it bad for this girl,” Raven mused.  “It’s not something you’ll get over with a hook up, is it?”

Clarke shrugged.  “I don’t know.  It’s weird though, like, I’ve still never seen her in person.  Maybe I’m not even attracted to her and I just really enjoy talking to her?”

“Bullshit, I’ve seen you staring at her selfies with heart eyes multiple times.”

“Raven’s right,” Jasper said.

“Never thought I’d hear you say that,” Monty said.

“Well it’s true,” Jasper replied.  “Clarke you’re usually crushing on a different person every week.”

“Bi problems,” Clarke said with a chuckle.

“How long have you been thinking about Lexa?”

Clarke sighed, and thought about it for a moment, counting the weeks.  “Almost two months, I guess,” she said eventually.

“Exactly.”

Clarke frowned at her friends.  “Look, I see what you guys are trying to do, but I don’t want to have any expectations with Lexa.  Sure, I like her, but she’s my friend too, and that comes first.  I wouldn’t want to put her on the spot or anything.”

Clarke blushed when she spoke because she had never been this open about anything with her friends before but they all looked impressed.

“When’d you get so fucking mature?” Raven asked.

“Shut _up_ Raven,” Clarke grumbled.

When Clarke arrived home after school, she was surprised to find that her mom was also home.  She was greeted the moment she walked through the door with a squeal of joy and a hug.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Clarke asked.

“You’re going to college!” Her mom squeaked.

“What?!” Clarke asked.

Abby walked her over to the kitchen where a few letters were on the table.  “You got a few letters back today!” she explained.  “USC, UCLA, UC Berkley, and Princeton.”

Clarke looked at the letters on the table and noticed they were open.  “You opened my mail?”

Abby frowned.  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it, I just had to know.  But you were accepted as a pre-med freshman at UCLA, Berkley, and Princeton!”

Clarke could feel herself heating up with anger.  “Isn’t it, like, illegal to open someone else’s mail?” she asked, trying to stay calm.  What if it had been a letter from Cal Arts that her mom found?

“You don’t sound too excited that you’re going to college,” Abby noticed with a frown.

“I mean, I am excited but can you not open my mail?” Clarke sneered and grabbed her letters from the table.

Abby blinked.  “I’m your mother, I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Yeah, well I’m almost 18,” Clarke growled.  She made her way down the hall toward her room.  “I can open my own mail.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know it would bother you so much,” Abby apologized.

Clarke sighed.  Her mom really did seem sorry, but Clarke didn’t like that her mom would go behind her back like that.  “It’s fine,” she started, “just please don’t do it again.”

Abby shook her head.  “I promise I won’t.”

Clarke tried to smile a little.  “Thanks,” she said.  “I, uh, have a lot of homework so I’m gonna get started on that.”

“I’ll text you when dinner’s ready,” Abby said.

Clarke thanked her and closed her bedroom door with a heavy sigh.  Fortunately, the new text message that lit up her screen made her feel a little better.  The day before, Clarke had changed Lexa’s name in her phone so instead of saying Lexa Woods it said Lexa and had the tree emoji next to it.  Clarke thought it was pretty funny.  Lexa disagreed, but it still light up Clarke’s mood when she saw the notification on her screen.  Although, that might have had less to do with the emoji and more to do with who it belonged to.

 **Lexa:** How was your day? x

Clarke smiled.  Lexa was always so thoughtful like this, checking up on her, asking how she was, and it made Clarke feel like someone cared about her.

 **Clarke:** Good. Can we switch to skype? It’s easier to talk back and forth there

Clarke set her phone down on her bed while she waited for a reply.  Lexa was awesome, and if Clarke was being honest with herself, she was slowly becoming one of her closest friends.  Clarke felt like she could talk to Lexa about anything, even things she couldn’t share with Raven or Octavia.  It didn’t matter that she got butterflies whenever she received a new message from Lexa, or that she blushed whenever Lexa sent her a selfie.  Lexa was her friend, first and foremost, and Clarke wanted to respect that.

Clarke ignored the way her heart leapt when there was a ding from her phone signaling a new message from Lexa.

 **Lexa:** Sure thing!

Clarke smiled and quickly signed onto her computer to send Lexa a message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks so much for reading and commenting and everything. I honestly can't thank you guys enough and your support is why I keep writing so thank you thank you! <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically fluff on top of fluff and Clexa are just sappy romantic nerds, so enjoy!

**Griffin Door:** Hey Lex :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** Hello Clarke :)

 **Griffin Door:** how are you?

 **Commander Grumpy:** pretty good, and yourself?

 **Griffin Door:** eh

 **Commander Grumpy:** what’s up?

 **Griffin Door:** I’m going to college

 **Commander Grumpy:** isn’t that a good thing?

 **Griffin Door:** yeah I guess, but now that I hear back I just don’t want to do pre-med

 **Griffin Door:** it sounds like the least exciting thing

 **Griffin Door:** I don’t want to like the new version of my mom, it’s just what she wants

 **Commander Grumpy:** I get that

 **Commander Grumpy:** when do you hear back from art schools?

 **Griffin Door:** who knows man

 **Griffin Door:** my mom also OPENED my mail

 **Griffin Door:** like what if it had been an art school? She would’ve flipped shit

 **Commander Grumpy:** You know you have to tell her eventually

 **Griffin Door:** I know, but I’d rather do it on my own terms, ya know?

 **Commander Grumpy:** yeah I get it

 **Commander Grumpy:** but HEY YOU’RE GOING TO COLLEGE

 **Commander Grumpy:** congratulations, Clarke :)

 **Griffin Door:** thanks :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** and if you absolutely hate pre-med you can always change majors

 **Griffin Door:** true

 **Commander Grumpy:** but you don’t have to worry about that because there’s no way you’re not going to get into art school

 **Commander Grumpy:** you’re too crazy talented

 **Griffin Door:** shut up

 **Commander Grumpy:** aren’t you always the first person to brag about how awesome you are? Why not now?

 **Griffin Door:** idk I guess art is just really important to me and has been for a long time and it would really suck to be turned down the moment I try it out as more than just a hobby

 **Commander Grumpy:** I suppose so

 **Commander Grumpy:** but you’ll always be my favorite artist :)

 **Griffin Door:** don’t be such a sap :P

 **Griffin Door:** so are you gonna visit the sister in ny now that you’re in?

 **Commander Grumpy:** I am!  This weekend, actually.

 **Griffin Door:** that’s soon!

 **Commander Grumpy:** I know but I’m excited! I already bought my train ticket and everything

 **Griffin Door:** haha look at you goin to the big city

 **Griffin Door:** you better take a lot of selfies and be a tourist

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m going to see the school, Clarke, not to be a tourist

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ll have four years to be a tourist

 **Griffin Door:** fineeee

 **Griffin Door:** but if I ever visit you in ny you gotta know all the tourist spots to take me cause I love being a tourist

 **Commander Grumpy:** are you sure I can’t distract you with other things?

 **Griffin Door:** and what other things did you have in mind?

 **Commander Grumpy:** njoi90i99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

 **Commander Grumpy:** kljkl  kk                               klkjmm,           .,/./;

 **Griffin Door:** hey minnie lol

 **Commander Grumpy:** I swear this dog is gonna be the death of me

 **Commander Grumpy:** she’s so needy

 **Griffin Door:** I’ll take her off your hands and give her all the attention she deserves :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** no! She’s my baby

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’d miss her too much

 **Commander Grumpy:** I like taking care of her it’s just a little harder when Anya’s not here to help

 **Griffin Door:** fine

 **Griffin Door:** but I can’t promise I won’t steal her when I come in a few weeks

 **Commander Grumpy:** I will be checking all your bags before you leave

 **Commander Grumpy:** please don’t run off with my dog

 **Commander Grumpy:** she would get scared on that plane all by herself

 **Griffin Door:** I can’t promise….but I will try my best to not steal her

 **Griffin Door:** she’s just so cute I can’t help myself

 **Griffin Door:** like you :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** what

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke are you comparing me to a dog?

 **Griffin Door:** um…. Yes?

 **Commander Grumpy:** how romantic

 **Commander Grumpy:** you know usually when people are compared to dogs it has somewhat negative connotations

 **Griffin Door:** not in like a bad way!! I’m just saying that you’re cute and I like your face and I’m gonna stop talking now

 **Commander Grumpy:** Clarke

 **Griffin Door:** what

 **Commander Grumpy:** I like your face too

 **Griffin Door:** :)

 **Commander Grumpy:** so what are you going to be doing in DC?

 **Griffin Door:** idk, octavia’s planning, me and raven are just gonna show up and do what she tells us

 **Griffin Door:** for all I know she could be planning a bank robbery we’re going to help her with

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’m sure Octavia won’t have you robbing banks

 **Griffin Door:** but I do want to see you while I’m there

 **Griffin Door:** if that’s ok

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’d like that                                    

 **Griffin Door:** we gotta talk to Octavia about planning that movie night

 **Commander Grumpy:** I’ll talk to her at school tomorrow

 **Griffin Door:** sweeeeeeet

 **Griffin Door:** I can’t wait to show you titanic

 **Commander Grumpy:** or take my titanic virginity as you oh so eloquently put it the other day

 **Griffin Door:** are you making fun of me

 **Commander Grumpy:** Maybe

 **Commander Grumpy:** it’s how I show affection

 **Commander Grumpy:** some people hug their friends or compliment them

 **Commander Grumpy:** I make fun of them

 **Griffin Door:** aww how sweet                                            

 **Griffin Door:** and by sweet I mean ruDE                        

 **Griffin Door:** besides I know you’d rather have me take your titanic virginity than Octavia

 **Commander Grumpy:** Why’s that?

 **Griffin Door:** because when you cry Octavia will just punch you and be like SUCK IT UP where as I will do the subtle yawn arm stretch and put my arm around you

 **Commander Grumpy:** smooth

 **Commander Grumpy:** what if I don’t cry?

 **Griffin Door:** it’s titanic how could you NOT cry?

 **Commander Grumpy:** movies don’t make me cry

 **Griffin Door:** ok weirdo

 **Griffin Door:** well if you don’t cry I’ll still probably have to yawn sometime throughout the movie…

 **Griffin Door:** and I can’t really help where my arm ends up after that

 **Griffin Door:** and Octavia will still probably punch you for not crying

 **Commander Grumpy:** well isn't it still going to be both of you?

 **Griffin Door:** yeah but I can protect you from her wrath

 **Commander Grumpy:** you drive a hard bargain, Griffin

 **Griffin Door:** crap sorry my mom just texted me I gotta go eat dinner

 **Griffin Door:** text me later?

 **Commander Grumpy:** of course

 **Griffin Door:** bye lex <3

 **Commander Grumpy:** bye

_Griffin Door is offline._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I have written but I GRADUATED so now that I'm done with school I will definitely have more time to write. If I write enough I might start doing twice a week updates if that's something you all would be interested in ;) Anyway I hope you like slow burn fluff cause that's a lot of what's coming up, haha. Thanks again so so so much for reading and commenting and everything!! Feel free to follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer and twitter @aimeekaitlynn


	18. Chapter 18

The rest of the week passed by very quickly for Lexa, as she had something to look forward to.  Right after school on Friday, her parents would be driving her to the train station where she would take the train up to New York to visit Anya, and she was so excited.  Friday morning, she had a bag packed for the weekend, which she stashed in her mom’s car for after school.

Lunches had expanded from just her and Lincoln to include Octavia and Bellamy as well, and today at lunch, Octavia surprised her.

Before Lincoln and Bellamy arrived, Octavia slid into the seat across the table from Lexa, and placed a large envelope in front of her.  Lexa looked at it curiously, then looked up at Octavia.  “What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s from Clarke,” Octavia said.  “She made me promise not to open it.”

Lexa picked it up and turned it over, and written on the other side in cute scrawl were the words: ‘FOR LEXA. DO NOT OPEN, OCTAVIA.’  She smiled.

“I didn’t open it, I promise,” Octavia muttered.  “She doesn’t even trust me…”

Lexa quickly ripped open the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper to find a drawing from Clarke.  It was a cute chibi-style sketch of Lexa in New York, with the word ‘Congrats!’ written across the top.  Lexa’s smile grew.

Octavia suddenly appeared right next to Lexa on the bench and peered over her shoulder at the picture.  “Oh my god, that’s so cute!” she squealed.  “What’s the congrats for?”

“I got into NYU,” Lexa replied.

“So she drew you a picture?” Octavia asked.

Lexa nodded softly.  “I guess.”  The smile still hadn’t left her face.

“That’s so cute,” Octavia said.  “She never draws me no matter how much I ask her.”

Lexa stared at the picture.  Clarke had told her drawing was more of a hobby but she thought it was really good.  And it was sweet that Clarke thought to send this to Octavia to give to her. 

“You’re blushing, Lex,” Octavia said, and Lexa snapped out of it.

“Shut up,” Lexa muttered, and quickly put the drawing back into the envelope and shoved it into her backpack.

Octavia giggled as Bellamy and Lincoln approached.

“What’s so funny?” Bellamy asked.

“Oh, we were just talking about you,” Octavia quipped.

“Ha ha, very funny,” he said, and sat down across from them.  Lincoln sat down next to him.  “You guys got plans this weekend?” Bellamy asked.

“I’m actually going to New York,” Lexa said.  “Visiting my sister.”

“Fun!” Octavia said.  “I love New York.”

“You’ve never even been,” Bellamy said.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t love it.”

Bellamy rolled his eyes.

“Octavia and I have a date,” Lincoln said.  He and Octavia looked at each other with heart eyes that made Bellamy want to vomit.

“Ew,” he said.

“You really need more friends,” Octavia said, eliciting a glare from her brother.

Lexa smiled at her new friends’ antics.  Besides the fact that they knew Clarke, they were amusing and fun to hang out with, and she was really glad to have met them.

The rest of the day was almost a blur, because after receiving Clarke’s gift, she couldn’t stop thinking about her.  More than once she found herself completely lost during lecture, making a mental note to borrow Lincoln’s notes later on.

After school, Lexa had to rush out to her mom, who was already waiting.  Her train was at 3:10 and was 30 minutes away on a good day.  Thankfully, this turned out to be a good day, and Lexa was seated on the train with five minutes to spare.  She sent off a quick text to Anya.

 **Lexa:** On the train! Should be arriving at 6:40. See you tonight!

It was a few minutes later, when the train was starting to slowly take off down the tracks, that her phone buzzed with a new message.

 **Anya:** I know, I’ll be there

Lexa smiled and yawned, realizing she was tired and had three and a half hours to kill.  She put in her earbuds to listen to music and slowly dozed off.

The next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by one of the men who worked on the train.  “You Pennsylvania Station?” he asked.

Lexa quickly sat upright and checked her watch.  6:42.  “Yes!”

The train was a couple minutes late so it was still slowing to a stop when she jumped out of her seat and grabbed her backpack and duffel bag.  “Thank you!” she called out to the man, who nodded.

She looked around Pennsylvania Station, a place she had only seen on TV before, in awe.  She took a quick selfie and texted Clarke.

 **Lexa:** Made it to NYC!

By the time Lexa made it off the train and out to the parking lot it was after 6:50.  She looked around and finally spotted the familiar face of her sister leaning against her car.  Lexa ran up to her.

“Coulda told me your train was gonna be late,” Anya said.

“I’m sorry, I fell asleep,” Lexa said.

Anya smiled at her and quickly wrapped her up in a hug.  “Good to see you.”

“I missed you too,” Lexa smiled against her sister.

“Now,” Anya said, pulling away and grabbing the duffel bag out of her sister’s hand, “Are you ready for a weekend of fun?”

“Anya, you’re supposed to be showing me the school,” Lexa pouted.

“I know, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun in the process.”  Anya unlocked her car and threw Lexa’s bag in the backseat.  They both got in the car.  “First things first, you hungry?  Cause I’m starved.”

Lexa grinned, “What’s for dinner?”

“Only the best burgers you’ve ever had.”

“Bring it on.”

Lexa’s phone buzzed with a new text message.

 **Clarke:** Yay! Glad to see you’re safe! Rock that city, cutie :)

Lexa blushed, but didn’t reply, deciding that she would enjoy the time with her sister now and talk to Clarke later.

x

It was after school on Friday that Clarke and Raven talked excitedly about their spring break plans.

“You ready?” Raven asked.  “One more week!”

“I know!” Clarke said.  “It’ll be weird meeting Lexa though.”

“Are you gonna make out with her already?”

“Raven, I told you, I don’t want to do anything to make her uncomfortable.  She’s an awesome friend, regardless.”

“But what if she wants to make out with you too,” Raven said.

Clarke laughed.  “That’s funny.”  Raven pulled something out of her pocket, and when Clarke looked she saw her own cellphone in Raven’s hand.  “Raven what the fuck!”

“Dude I’ve had that since lunch,” Raven said.  “But I did take a look at some of your messages from Lexa and, trust me, that girl is into you.”

“Talk about invasion of privacy.  How did you even get my passcode?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.”

Clarke eyed her suspiciously, but rolled her eyes.  Just then, Clarke’s phone buzzed in her hand.  She checked it to find a new message from Lexa, with an adorable selfie to accompany it.  Clarke smiled.

“Is that Lexa?” Raven asked, trying to look at the message.  “I can see you blushing.”

“Shut up,” Clarke said.  “And I’m changing my passcode.”  Clarke quickly typed out a reply and then put her phone away.  “Do you know what Octavia has planned for us?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

Raven shook her head.  “Not a clue, dude.”  As they approached the parking lot, Raven turned to Clarke.  “Hey could I get a ride home?  Robotics club was cancelled today.”

Clarke nodded.  Raven’s house was on her way home, so it was easy to stop by and drop her off.

When Clarke got home, her mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so she was home alone.  She grabbed the mail and flipped through it when heading inside.  A letter addressed to her from Cal Arts caught her eye.  “Oh shit,” Clarke gasped, and dropped the mail.  She fumbled to pick it up quickly and ran inside.

Clarke dropped the rest of the mail down on the counter and snatched up her letter.  She took a deep breath and ripped open the letter.  Pulling it out of the envelope, it sliced her finger and she got a paper cut.  Clarke yelped in pain, but opened the letter regardless.  Her eyes scanned the first line with her heart racing in her ears.

“Dear Miss Griffin,” Clarke read aloud.  “We regret to inform you… what?”

Clarke read the line.

And she read it again.

And again.

But it didn’t change.  Clarke was not accepted at Cal Arts.

There was a new weight of disappointment in Clarke’s chest.  She sighed, and with shaking hands, she threw away the letter.  “Stupid,” Clarke said to herself.  She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up.  Especially since art was mostly a hobby to her until a few weeks ago.  But Clarke still let herself get excited and her hopes were raised, and that only led to disappointment.

Should she tell Raven?  No, Raven would just get mad and threaten to burn down the school, and Clarke didn’t need that right now.  Octavia had a date with her boyfriend tonight.  She couldn’t talk to her mom because her mom didn’t even know she wanted to go to art school.

Clarke found herself calling Lexa.  She listened to the line ring a couple of times, and then it cut to voicemail.

“This is Lexa,” Clarke heard the machine spout.  “Leave a message.”  Clarke smiled, even just hearing Lexa’s voice.

She was too slow to hang up before the beep signaling her to leave a message.  She took a breath.  “H-hey, Lexa.  It’s Clarke,” she started.  “Sorry to call.  I know you’re with your sister.  I just.. I got some news and I wanted to talk to you but it’s fine.  It’s no big deal.  Sorry to bother you.  Have fun this weekend.”  Clarke took another breath before she left the message.  “Bye,” she muttered, and ended the call.

Clarke wasn’t going to cry.  Not over something as small as this.  But she did have to do something to get her mind off things.

Clarke went back to her bedroom and plugged her phone into the speakers.  She turned on some Metallica and turned up the volume.  She opened her sketchbook up to a new page and started to draw.

x

It was a long night of dinner, then dessert, then meeting some of Anya’s friends, including her roommate, Echo.  Echo was pretty similar to Anya – stubborn, big headed, and an even bigger personality.  Lexa was surprised they got along so well.

It was after midnight when Anya finally took Lexa back to her campus apartment and gave her some blankets and pillows to sleep on the couch.  Lexa yawned.  She was tired after a long day of traveling.  She dug her phone charger out of her bag, but when she plugged it in she saw a new missed call and voicemail from Clarke.

“Night, Lex!” Anya called as she walked from the bathroom into her own room.

“Goodnight!” Lexa replied.  She watched Anya go until the door was closed behind her, and as soon as Anya was gone she listened to Clarke’s message.

Clarke sounded a little off, and that worried Lexa.  She regretted not checking her phone earlier in the night.  Lexa checked the time, and it was 12:24 in the morning, but it was only 9:24 in LA.  She sent Clarke a quick text message, hoping she was still awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the congratulations! I am now broke and unemployed so that's fun. I'm going out of town this weekend so I've decided that next week will start the twice a week updates :) I say this every chapter but thank you so so much for reading and enjoying the story and commenting, it really means a lot to me! I'm glad you're all liking it as much as I do! Anyway follow me on Tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer and Twitter @aimeekaitlynn for updates on the fic or my life!


	19. Chapter 19

**Lexa Woods:** Hey, Clarke, I’m so sorry I didn’t respond earlier.  I would call but my sister is going to sleep.  Is everything okay? x

 **Clarke Griffin:** Hey Lex, yeah it’s fine, sorry if I freaked you out

 **Clarke Griffin:** I just heard back from cal arts today, and I didn’t get in

 **Lexa Woods:** What??? That’s crazy

 **Lexa Woods:** they’re crazy for not accepting you

 **Clarke Griffin:** Yeah I’m like disappointed but I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up

 **Lexa Woods:** hey, you have a right to get your hopes up

 **Lexa Woods:** You’re so talented

 **Lexa Woods:** besides, isn’t cal arts crazy competitive?

 **Clarke Griffin:** yeah I guess

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m sure all the other schools you applied for will be happy to have you

 **Clarke Griffin:** yeah, there’s a couple more I applied for

 **Lexa Woods:** I know you’ve got this

 **Lexa Woods:** Thanks for the picture, by the way

 **Clarke Griffin:** You got it?                                                    

 **Lexa Woods:** Octavia gave it to me at lunch today

 **Lexa Woods:** or yesterday I guess since it’s after midnight here

 **Clarke Griffin:** oh god I’m sorry you’re probably exhausted why are you talking to me

 **Lexa Woods:** No it’s fine! I’m not that tired

 **Lexa Woods:** And Octavia did not open the envelope

 **Lexa Woods:** although she did look over my shoulder after I opened it

 **Clarke Griffin:** haha that’s fine I guess

 **Clarke Griffin:** did you like it?

 **Lexa Woods:** I loved it!

 **Lexa Woods:** as soon as I get home I’m going to frame it

 **Clarke Griffin:** it wasn’t that good

 **Lexa Woods:** no it was really cute! It really means a lot that you would do that for me

 **Clarke Griffin:** I wanted to do something for you as a congrats, and I figured it would be cool to like physically send you something

 **Clarke Griffin:** through Octavia, so I gotta thank her again lol

 **Lexa Woods:** Clarke, you’re seriously the best :)

 **Clarke Griffin:** shhhh no I’m not

 **Clarke Griffin:** so how’s new york? Do you love it?

 **Lexa Woods:** I haven’t seen much of it yet but I do like it so far

 **Clarke Griffin:** what did you do today?

 **Lexa Woods:** after my three and a half hour train ride Anya took me out to dinner and then I met some of her friends

 **Clarke Griffin:** three and a half hours??? Jfc that’s a long train ride

 **Lexa Woods:** Yeah I slept the entire time

 **Clarke Griffin:** no wonder you’re not tired lol

 **Lexa Woods:** Actually I lied

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m exhausted

 **Lexa Woods:** Traveling is exhausting

 **Clarke Griffin:** dude go to bed

 **Lexa Woods:** Noooo!

 **Lexa Woods:** I wanna talk to u

 **Clarke Griffin:** Lexa, you never say u

 **Clarke Griffin:** You’re tired

 **Lexa Woods:** NO I’m awake I swear

 **Lexa Woods:** I promise

 **Lexa Woods:** pinky promise

 **Lexa Woods:** how was your day, Clarke?

 **Clarke Griffin:** aside from the rejection letter, not too bad

 **Clarke Griffin:** it’s definitely going better now :)

 **Lexa Woods:** Why’s that?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Talking to you can always make me feel better

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m glad I can help a little

 **Lexa Woods:** anything else I can do to make you feel better?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Selfie?

 **Lexa Woods:** I sent you one earlier!

 **Clarke Griffin:** but that was like hours ago

 **Clarke Griffin:** and you’re super cute

 **Clarke Griffin:** and it would make me feel better :)

 **Lexa Woods:** Maybe tomorrow? I’m sorry I was traveling all day and haven’t showered yet so I’m just gross right now

 **Clarke Griffin:** You’re never gross!

 **Clarke Griffin:** But fine, I get it.  You owe me one selfie tomorrow, missy

 **Lexa Woods:** I know, haha

 **Clarke Griffin:** You’d better not forget

 **Lexa Woods:** I won’t! I promise

 **Clarke Griffin:** Good. Cause ur face is cute.

 **Lexa Woods:** Well your face is cuter

 **Clarke Griffin:** That’s a lie

 **Lexa Woods:** Nope

 **Lexa Woods:** That’s the truth

 **Lexa Woods:** 100% truth

 **Clarke Griffin:** I disagree

 **Lexa Woods:** You can’t disagree with a fact

 **Clarke Griffin:** Too bad, I just did

 **Lexa Woods:** you’re a nend

 **Lexa Woods:** nerd

 **Clarke Griffin:** you’re a nend too

 **Lexa Woods:** shut up

 **Clarke Griffin:** someone’s grumpy when they’re sleepy

 **Lexa Woods:** I am NOT grumpy

 **Lexa Woods:** nor am I sleepy

 **Clarke Griffin:** yeah you are

 **Lexa Woods:** no I’m not

 **Clarke Griffin:** As cute as tired Lexa is, you should sleep

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m not cute you’re cute

 **Clarke Griffin:** We’ve been over this

 **Lexa Woods:** I know but I feel like Minnie usually interrupts us as soon as I call you cute

 **Clarke Griffin:** this is very true

 **Clarke Griffin:** how is Minnie I miss her

 **Lexa Woods:** You’ve never met her

 **Clarke Griffin:** yeah but I’ve talked to her

 **Lexa Woods:** omg you’re such a nerd

 **Clarke Griffin:** IT’S NOT MY FAULT YOUR DOG IS GREAT

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’m so excited to visit when I meet her like for real

 **Clarke Griffin:** can I pet her?

 **Lexa Woods:** wait who said you can meet her?

 **Clarke Griffin:** WHAT?!

 **Clarke Griffin:** but I gotta meet her

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m kidding, of course you can meet her

 **Clarke Griffin:** ok I thought you were serious

 **Clarke Griffin:** seriously tho Minnie is like the one I’m second most excited to see

 **Lexa Woods:** After Octavia, haha I’m sure you miss her

 **Clarke Griffin:** no, after you

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’ve known O for like ten years but this will be my first time meeting you!

 **Clarke Griffin:** and like, I love talking to you so I really want to meet you

 **Lexa Woods:** you’re swert Clarke

 **Lexa Woods:** sweat                                

 **Lexa Woods:** sweet gdi

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m relly excited to emeet  you too

 **Clarke Griffin:** Lexa go to sleep

 **Lexa Woods:** noo I can;t wait because youire beautifilu and saj

 **Clarke Griffin:** what?

 **Clarke Griffin:** …?

 **Clarke Griffin:** Lexa?

 **Lexa Woods:** SORRY I AM FALLING ASLEEP

 **Lexa Woods:** good nigh clark

 **Clarke Griffin:** haha, goodnight lexa

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’ll talk to you tomorrow

 **Clarke Griffin:** sweet dreams <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100% fluff. Like it's literally just fluff. Updates will now be on Mondays and Fridays!! Seriously thanks for all your support and kind words and everything. I'm so glad you all like the story and I'm excited to share it with you!


	20. Chapter 20

“Up and at ‘em, girl!”  Lexa felt the thud of a pillow hitting her in the face and slowly wrenched her eyes open to find Anya staring at her.  Lexa groaned unintelligibly and pulled the pillow over her head.  “Come on Commander Grumpy,” Anya said.

“I can’t believe Lincoln told you that nickname,” Lexa grumbled.

“I’m so glad he did,” Anya said as she sat on top of Lexa on the couch.

Lexa pushed Anya with her feet and slowly sat up.  She rubbed her eyes and stretched.   “What time is it?” she asked.

“It’s like ten,” Anya replied.  “We can go for a quick breakfast before I show you around campus?”

Lexa jumped up, suddenly excited.  “Yes!”

“Now someone’s awake,” Anya laughed.

“Give me like twenty minutes and I’ll be ready to go,” Lexa said, and grabbed a fresh set of clothes from her duffel bag.

Lexa was in and out of the shower quickly, and ready to join Anya almost twenty minutes on the dot.  She didn’t feel the need to wear any makeup but blow dried her hair for some natural curls.  Remembering her conversation with Clarke the night before, she quickly snapped a selfie and sent it to her.

 **Lexa Woods:** Ready to take on the big city!

Lexa stuffed her phone into her purse along with her wallet and a notebook, and met Anya at the door.  “Where are we going?” Lexa asked.

“My favorite place is Third Rail,” Anya replied as Lexa followed her out the door.  “They have the _best_ scones.”

Because Anya still lived on campus, it didn’t take too long for them to walk to the coffee shop.  After they ordered and got their food and coffees, they found a table by the window and sat down to eat.  Lexa quickly checked her phone to find a new text from Clarke.

 **Clarke Griffin:** Hey nerd, you’re cute

Lexa blushed, and this did not go unnoticed by Anya, who smirked.  “How’s Clarke?” she asked.

“Why would you ask that?” Lexa asked, quickly shoving her phone back into her purse.

“So it wasn’t a text from Clarke that just made you turn beet red?” Anya clarified.

“Shut up,” Lexa grumbled.  Anya laughed.  “She’s coming next week,” Lexa sighed.

“Are you gonna see her?” Anya asked.

Lexa nodded.  “Octavia’s planning a movie night on Sunday.”

“And?”

“What?  I’m not gonna like, profess my love to her or something.  That would be weird.  We’re just going to hang out.”

“You’re no fun,” Anya huffed.  “You’ll tell her sometime this week though, right?”

“I’m probably not going to see her after that,” Lexa said.  “She’s here to hang out with Octavia and Raven.  At least I’ll finally get to see Lincoln because his girlfriend will be busy all week.”

“And I’m coming home too!” Anya said.

“You are _not_!  I will not let you come home and embarrass me.”

“It’s not my fault my spring break is coincidentally also that week,” she said coyly.

Lexa glared.  “You probably paid someone off.”

“Come on, don’t you want to see your big sister?”

“I’ve already had enough of you this weekend.”

Anya laughed, and they continued to eat their food.  Lexa had to admit that this place had some of the best coffee and scones she had ever eaten, and was looking forward to going here next year.

Next, Anya took her around campus.  Lexa wanted to do an official campus tour, but Anya refused, and insisted that she could give her a better tour anyway.  Her tour lasted almost the whole day, with the exception of a quick break for lunch, because she insisted on going inside nearly every classroom, and showing Lexa all the buildings, even the ones she wouldn’t be using.

By the end of Anya’s tour, Lexa was complaining about her feet hurting, and Anya was complaining about Lexa’s complaining.

“This is why you need to be more active,” Anya groaned.  “When you’re in college you’re gonna be walking around all day.  You’ve gotta get used to it.”

“You circled around the campus at least three times,” Lexa defended.  “I’m pretty sure the average college student doesn’t walk that much.”

They walked up the steps back to Anya’s dorm.  “What do you want to do for dinner?” Anya asked.

“Can we stay in, please?  I don’t think my feet could take anymore walking,” Lexa said.

“Fine,” Anya sighed.  “How’s Chinese sound?”

“Perfect.”

Lexa flopped down on Anya’s couch and kicked off her shoes while Anya grabbed a takeout menu from the coffee table and studied it.  They decided to watch _Finding Nemo_ while they waited for their food.

Lexa checked her phone for messages, but she had received nothing new from Clarke.  She frowned.  Clarke was bound to be done with her shift at the hospital by now.  She sent a quick text.

 **Lexa Woods:** How was your day? x

Lexa returned her attention to the movie in front of her, trying to ignore the growling in her stomach.

x

Clarke’s day at the hospital was a long one.  It was always a long day when she was thrown up on by a patient, but today it happened twice, _after_ she had already changed into her spare clothes.  She had to wash down as best she could and drive home that day still sopping wet and reeking of vomit.

When she arrived home, her mother was already there.  Clarke didn’t think twice on it; she planned to head straight to the shower and stay under the water for at least thirty minutes.  She didn’t get the chance, though.

Clarke walked inside to find her mom sitting at the table with two envelopes in front of her.

“You got more college letters today,” Abby said.  Her voice was quiet and distant.

Clarke gulped and walked up to her.  She glanced down at the letters.  One was from Stanford, which was her mother’s alma mater.  The other was from Otis School of Art and Design.  Clarke’s heart skipped a beat.  She looked up at her mom.

“Well?” Abby asked.  “Aren’t you going to open them?”

The tension was so quiet, Clarke would swear she could hear a pin drop, if someone had dropped a pin.  She wasn’t sure which letter to reach for first.  It felt like some kind of test.  Clarke studied the envelopes, sweating under her mother’s icy gaze, then slowly reached for the Stanford envelope.  Her mother’s eyes revealed nothing.

Clarke opened it and quickly read through the letter inside.  “I got in,” she said quietly.

Abby nodded curtly, and waited.  Clarke gulped and reached for the other envelope.

Her fingers were trembling as she fumbled to open it.  Her eyes scanned the first line and her heart fell.

“I’m on the waitlist,” Clarke muttered.

Abby sighed in relief.  “Oh thank god,” she said.  “I was worried that if you got in you would go.”

“What do you mean you were worried?” Clarke asked, offended.  She could feel the anger inside her reaching a boiling point.

“Well you didn’t even tell me you were applying for art school,” Abby said.  “I mean, art school?  Really, Clarke?  It’s impractical.  An education at Stanford would be great for your future!  You’re going to make an excellent doctor.”

“Well what if I don’t want to be a doctor!” Clarke exclaimed.  “You’ve always had these expectations for me but you’ve never once asked what I want!  Maybe I don’t want to be a doctor and waste away my years in school and get puked on every other day!  Maybe I hate it and you never knew because you never bothered to ask!”

Clarke stormed off, without even giving her mother a chance to respond.  She shut herself away in the bathroom and let the hot steam of water wash away the stench of vomit and the sting of her tears.

Clarke couldn’t tell how long she was in the shower, but she stayed until she had no more tears to cry and until her fingers were as pruny and withered as raisins.  She turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping herself in a towel to dry off.  Before heading to her room, Clarke peered downstairs.  Her mother’s car keys and purse were gone, so she had already left for work.

Still wrapped in a towel, Clarke was too exhausted to dress herself.  She simply shut her bedroom door and collapsed onto her bed.  With a sigh, she rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.  She’s not sure if that encounter with her mother went better or worse than she expected.  On the one hand, she didn’t yell at Clarke, but on the other hand, Clarke yelled at her.

Clarke sighed.  She knew she should expect some retaliation from her mom once she was home from work, but Clarke didn’t want to think about that right now.  She rolled over to her side and grabbed her phone.

She unlocked it to find a new text from Lexa and smiled.  This would definitely distract her for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late update, I had a last minute interview and friends came over so I had no time to finish the chapter. I'm going to try to get some writing done this weekend, and I'm still planning on doing twice a week updates (whether or not those updates actually occur on Mondays and Fridays, we'll see lol). Anyway, thank you again for all the kind words and feedback you give me. Like I honestly can't thank you enough for reading and enjoying the story. Y'all are the best. Seriously.
> 
> Anyway follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer and twitter @aimeekaitlynn :)


	21. Chapter 21

**Clarke Griffin:** Hey Lex! How are you?

 **Clarke Griffin:** How’s NY?

 **Lexa Woods:** ny’s awesome so much fun lol

 **Clarke Griffin:** uhh

 **Clarke Griffin:** you ok?

 **Lexa Woods:** ya why wouldn’t i be?

 **Clarke Griffin:** idk you’re just texting kinda weird

 **Lexa Woods:** fine u caught me

 **Lexa Woods:** this is her sis anya

 **Lexa Woods:** lexa’s in the bathroom

 **Clarke Griffin:** Oh, hi anya! I’ve heard a lot about you

 **Lexa Woods:** all good things I hope

 **Clarke Griffin:** of course

 **Lexa Woods:** I’ve heard a lot about u too Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** really?

 **Clarke Griffin:** what have you heard about me?

 **Lexa Woods:** all good things ;)

 **Clarke Griffin:** what do you mean?

 **Lexa Woods:** ;)

 **Clarke Griffin:** that doesn’t tell me anything

 **Lexa Woods:** why do u wanna know what Lexa says about u

 **Clarke Griffin:** uhh

 **Lexa Woods:** that’s what I thought

 **Lexa Woods:** don’t worry I’ll delete these texts really quick

 **Clarke Griffin:** ok?

 **Lexa Woods:** lexa’s back

 **Lexa Woods:** she’s asking if I’ve seen her phone lol

 **Lexa Woods:** how long do u think it’ll take her to notice I’m texting on her phone and not mine?

 **Clarke Griffin:** eh, give her a few minutes

 **Lexa Woods:** lol

 **Lexa Woods:** she still hasn’t noticed

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m pretending to help herejkslkl

 **Lexa Woods:** LSS GOOD BYE CLKRKLS

 **Clarke Griffin:** later Anya

 **Lexa Woods:** Clarke?

 **Clarke Griffin:** yes lexa?

 **Lexa Woods:** how long were you talking to my sister?

 **Clarke Griffin:** not too long

 **Lexa Woods:** I don’t believe you

 **Lexa Woods:** what did she say to you

 **Clarke Griffin:** nothing!

 **Clarke Griffin:** don’t you trust me?

 **Lexa Woods:** oh I trust you, it’s her I don’t trust

 **Clarke Griffin:** betrayed by your own blood

 **Lexa Woods:** well she’s my adoptive sister

 **Lexa Woods:** so we’re not actually blood related

 **Clarke Griffin:** shit sorry I didn’t mean to assume

 **Clarke Griffin:** wait are you adopted?

 **Lexa Woods:** no, but she is

 **Clarke Griffin:** ohhh ok

 **Clarke Griffin:** sorry

 **Clarke Griffin:** I don’t mean to be like intrusive I was just curious

 **Lexa Woods:** it’s fine, Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** How are you?  How’s NY?

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m good! The campus is amazing!! I’m so excited for college!

 **Clarke Griffin:** that’s awesome!

 **Lexa Woods:** how are you Clarke?

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’m fine

 **Lexa Woods:** …just fine?

 **Lexa Woods:** anything you want to talk about?

 **Clarke Griffin:** nah

 **Lexa Woods:** Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** What?

 **Lexa Woods:** :(

 **Clarke Griffin:** fine

 **Clarke Griffin:** you wore me down

 **Clarke Griffin:** I was waitlisted at Otis school of art and design

 **Lexa Woods:** that’s good! Better than a rejection!

 **Clarke Griffin:** my mom saw the letter

 **Lexa Woods:** oh.

 **Clarke Griffin:** yeah

 **Clarke Griffin:** she let me open it, but she’s not too happy about me applying for art schools

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m sorry, Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** I kind of yelled at her

 **Lexa Woods:** oh no!

 **Clarke Griffin:** I know. I feel bad about that, but she didn’t want to listen to me

 **Lexa Woods:** I’m sorry :(

 **Clarke Griffin:** it’s fine

 **Clarke Griffin:** at least I get to see you in like a week!

 **Clarke Griffin:** I definitely need a break rn

 **Lexa Woods:** that’s so soon! I can’t wait

 **Clarke Griffin:** and you’ll get to meet Raven too!

 **Lexa Woods:** haha yes, she’s a fun one

 **Lexa Woods:** but I am more excited to see you, Clarke

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’m excited to see you too

 **Lexa Woods:** :)

 **Clarke Griffin:** so what have you said to anya about me?

 **Lexa Woods:** what?

 **Clarke Griffin:** anya said she’s heard a lot about me

 **Clarke Griffin:** so

 **Clarke Griffin:** what have you said to anya about me? :)

 **Lexa Woods:** I KNEW SHE SAID SOMETHING TO YOU

 **Lexa Woods:** excuse me for a moment Clarke I have to murder my sister

 **Lexa Woods:** @nsa and by murder my sister I mean whack her with a pillow

 **Clarke Griffin:** lol

 **Clarke Griffin:** are you done murdering your sister?

 **Lexa Woods:** almost

 **Lexa Woods:** ok back

 **Clarke Griffin:** hi

 **Lexa Woods:** as I hit her with a pillow she said, “Clarke you traitor!”

 **Clarke Griffin:** sorry anya

 **Clarke Griffin:** you wouldn’t tell me anything so I tried going straight to the source

 **Clarke Griffin:** it didn’t work of course

 **Clarke Griffin:** I still don’t know what you’ve told her about me

 **Lexa Woods:** all good things

 **Clarke Griffin:** see, that’s what she said

 **Lexa Woods:** don’t you trust me, Clarke?

 **Clarke Griffin:** ….is this a trick question?

 **Lexa Woods:** you’re cute

 **Clarke Griffin:** what?

 **Lexa Woods:** I mean cute in that like you don’t trust me but you uh, you trust my sister and want me to trust you

 **Lexa Woods:** nevermind it made sense in my head

 **Lexa Woods:** sorry

 **Clarke Griffin:** hey Lexa

 **Lexa Woods:** yes?

 **Clarke Griffin:** you’re cute too :)

 **Lexa Woods:** shh you know what I mean

 **Clarke Griffin:** I actually don’t but you’re still cute

 **Lexa Woods:** so when are you and Raven flying in?

 **Clarke Griffin:** like super late Saturday night it’s awful

 **Clarke Griffin:** I’m gonna have hella jet lag

 **Lexa Woods:** that’ll be hilarious

 **Clarke Griffin:** shut up

 **Clarke Griffin:** ooh hey we’ll be in the same time zone for once!

 **Lexa Woods:** so I won’t fall asleep on you haha

 **Clarke Griffin:** I KNOW

 **Clarke Griffin:** even though it is cute when you get sleepy

 **Lexa Woods:** no it’s dumb haha

 **Clarke Griffin:** no it’s not!

 **Lexa Woods:** I think Octavia’s aiming for Monday night for the movie night

 **Clarke Griffin:** sweet!

 **Lexa Woods:** speaking of movies anya is insisting I get off my phone because I picked the movie

 **Lexa Woods:** and we’re supposed to be spending time together or something

 **Clarke Griffin:** boo

 **Lexa Woods:** Well I’ll talk to you soon

 **Clarke Griffin:** And I’ll SEE you soon too!

 **Lexa Woods:** haha yes, I can’t wait!

 **Clarke Griffin:** goodnight lexa <3

 **Lexa Woods:** Goodnight, Clarke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer to spring break! This might be the last text based chapter for a little while because when they're in the same city they won't have any reason to text chat ;) Again thank you so so so much for all your awesome comments, I read and love every single one of them. I'm working on a couple of other fics at the moment too, so if you're into Wynonna Earp you should check out my WayHaught Hogwarts AU that I just posted! And if you'd like follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer and twitter @aimeekaitlynn for updates :) Anyway y'all are awesome and make me want to keep writing this story <3


	22. Chapter 22

Clarke woke up Sunday morning to an interesting e-mail about her flight to DC.

“Mom?” she said, coming downstairs.

“Yes, Clarke?” her mom asked.  Abby was still in her scrubs and had obviously just recently arrived at home.  She was eating bowl of cereal at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper, and looked up when Clarke entered the room.

“What’s this about my flight being cancelled?” Clarke asked.

“Oh, I cancelled your ticket,” Abby said calmly as she put another spoonful into her mouth.

Clarke blinked when she heard this.  “You did what?”

“Well, I bought you the ticket,” Abby replied.  “You need to understand to take your education seriously.  You’re going to be a doctor, Clarke.  If you’re going to keep acting out like this there need to be consequences.”

Clarke shook her head, as she kept herself from crying.  “I can’t believe you!”  Clarke went back to her room and got dressed quickly, grabbed her keys, then ran out the door.

“Clarke, where are you going?” Abby called after her.  “Clarke!”

Clarke didn’t listen to her.  She started her car and drove off.

Ten minutes later she was knocking on Raven’s door, eyes red and puffy from crying.  When Raven answered the door, though, she was no longer crying, and was just angry.

“I hate her!” Clarke yelled, storming into Raven’s house, all the way through to her bedroom.

“Whoa slow down,” Raven replied.  “What happened?”

“My mom cancelled my fucking flight!”

“What?!” Raven exclaimed.  “Why?”  She followed Clarke back to her bedroom.

“I got a letter back from Otis, and she found it before I did,” Clarke said.  “She’s not too happy about the whole art school thing.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know!”  Clarke sighed and flopped down on Raven’s bed.  She groaned into the pillow then turned over.  Raven sat on the bed next to her.  “I just checked my bank and I have six hundred dollars in savings, but a flight to DC this last minute is like nine hundred.  I don’t know what to do.”

Raven sighed.  “Let’s think about this ok.  You have six hundred, you’re already almost there!” she said.  “I can probably spare another hundred for you.  We can ask O and Bellamy if they’d be able to chip in at all.  I’m sure we can ask Lexa too.”

“No, don’t tell Lexa!” Clarke huffed.  “I don’t want to take your money, Raven, I just want to figure this out.  God, I can’t believe she would do that this last minute!  We’ve been planning this!  Octavia’s been getting ready for us to stay with her!”

“Dude I’m pretty sure I owe you _more_ than a hundred bucks.  So you’ve got no excuse to not take my money.”

Clarke sighed and sits up.  “Fine, but don’t tell Octavia.  Or Lexa!”

Raven grabs her laptop and opened it up to search for flights.  “Ok the same flight that I’m on is booked up.  I guess someone snatched up your ticket already.”  Clarke sighed.  “And other ones the same day are all really expensive.”

“This isn’t gonna work!” Clarke groaned in frustration.

“Wait wait wait,” Raven said quickly.  “This one’s seven fifty.”

Clarke jumped up and looked over her shoulder.  “Really?  Where?”

“It’s round trip, and there’s a layover in Ohio, but it’s the cheapest option,” Raven said as she read off the webpage.  “The only thing is it leaves Friday morning.”

“Friday morning?  I’d have to miss school,” Clarke mused.  “And I’m still fifty bucks short.”

“Got any old paintings?” Raven asked.  “My mom is always asking about your art, I’m sure she’d love to buy one off you.”

“I’m not going to extort your mom for money!” Clarke said.

“Come on,” Raven replied persuasively.  “You’d be doing her a favor, honestly.”

Clarke frowned.  “I’ll think about it.”

She laid back down on Raven’s bed and put her head in her hands.  Maybe she’d be able to pull this off, but it was going to take a lot of work.

x

Lexa was not happy to be back in DC.  It was a constant reminder that she was still in high school and not yet off to college, living independently with her sister and their dog.  Unfortunately, that was still five months away.

Fortunately, she had spring break to look forward to in a week when she would finally meet Clarke.

That didn’t change the fact that it was 7:57 on Monday morning and Lexa would literally rather be anywhere else than at school.  She went to her locker and grabbed her books, then spotted Octavia texting across the way.  Lexa walked over to her to say hi, but when Octavia looked up and spotted Lexa, her eyes widened and she quickly stuffed her phone in her backpack and darted away.  Lexa raised an eyebrow in confusion, but the bell rang a moment later, and Octavia became forgotten as she made her way to class.

The week trudged on very slowly, and she was extra busy with rehearsals, but the weirdest part was that Lexa barely saw Octavia at all.  When Lexa saw Octavia in the halls, she would walk in the other direction, leaving Lexa confused.  When Lexa would arrive for lunch, Octavia would have some convenient reason to excuse herself.  Lexa wasn’t sure if she should be hurt or offended or what.

By Thursday afternoon, she was just plain annoyed.  Lexa arrived at the table for lunch, and as soon as she sat down, Octavia started packing up her clearly unfinished lunch.

“Sorry, I have to finish up a project,” she muttered.  “I’ll see you guys later.”  She gave Lincoln a quick peck on the cheek and ruffled Bellamy’s hair before walking away.

“Okay, what is her problem?” Lexa asked when Octavia was out of earshot.  “She’s been avoiding me all week!”

“She hasn’t been avoiding you,” Lincoln said.  “She’s just busy.”

“Then why does she literally run away whenever I see her?” Lexa asked.  Lincoln shrugged, and Lexa realized she would not get anything out of him, so she turned to Bellamy instead.  “Does she have a problem with me or something?”

“No, she loves you!” Bellamy said sincerely.  Lexa figured he would know Octavia best as she is his sister.

“Then what is up with her this week?”  Lexa sighed, frustrated.

“I dunno,” Bellamy said.  “She’s been talking to Clarke a lot but they always keep me out of the loop in things.”

“Clarke?” Lexa asked.  “Is she okay?”

They had been talking every single day, but Clarke would usually share things with her, even if they were bad, and she hadn’t heard about anything out of the ordinary.

“Yeah, as far as I know,” Bellamy said.  “Why don’t you just talk to Octavia yourself?”

“Because she won’t let me,” Lexa pouted.

“Why don’t you come to my game tomorrow?” Lincoln asked.

“Your lacrosse game?”

“Yeah,” he said.  “Octavia always comes.  You can meet her there after school and talk to her about whatever you need to talk about.”

“I guess that could work,” Lexa said.  “But I don’t want to make things weird by confronting her at a game.”

Lincoln shook his head.  “Lexa, I swear she’s just busy.  She’ll be happy to hang out with you.”

Lexa frowned, but Lincoln smiled at her and elbowed her playfully in the side until the corners of her lips twitched up into a grin as well.  “Okay, okay,” Lexa said.  “I’ll be there.”

x

It was well after midnight on Friday morning and Clarke couldn’t sleep.  She knew she probably should because her flight was in four hours, but she couldn’t close her eyes.  She was far too excited for the upcoming week.

Raven paid her the hundred dollars she owed, and Clarke sold a painting to Raven’s mom.  She also sold a couple of other paintings to her art teacher freshman year.  Clarke made enough that she didn’t have to _completely_ clean out her savings account to buy the cheapest Friday morning flight that she found.  Unfortunately, since the flight took off at 5:30, and she should probably get there an hour early, and it was already nearing two in the morning, Clarke doubted she would get any sleep that night.

The plan was for her to drive to Raven’s house at three in the morning, park her car there, and then Raven would borrow her mom’s car to drop her off at the airport.  Clarke was already packed and ready to leave, she just had to wait until it was time to leave.

Clarke also hadn’t told her mom that she bought a new ticket, so it would be a fun surprise when Clarke never came home from school on Friday.  School that she wasn’t even going to.

Clarke checked the clock again. 2:15.  She groaned and got out of bed.  If she wasn’t going to sleep tonight she might as well do something with her time.  Clarke grabbed her sketch book off her desk and opened up to a new page.  She sketched out a few rough outlines of her friends.  She also drew a quick picture of Minnie, because she had a picture of Minnie and Lexa saved on her phone.

When Clarke finished a couple of drawings she checked the time again.  2:34.

Close enough.

She grabbed her suitcase and her carry-on bag and closed her bedroom door behind her.  She crept down the stairs slowly and quietly and went out to her car.

Clarke arrived at Raven’s house and called her.  The dial tone sounded for a few seconds before the line clicked and Raven picked up with a muffled, “Mmf?”

“Raven?  I’m here.”

“Clarke?” Raven yawned.  “What the fuck dude I should be asleep for another fifteen minutes.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarke said with a frown.  “I can wait.”

“No, no, I’m already awake.  I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Love you!” Clarke said.

Raven didn’t say anything before she hung up, but Clarke could feel her friend glaring.

They arrived at the airport in record time because it was far too early for LA traffic to kick in.  Raven dropped her off and helped her get out her bags.  Then, the two friends hugged.  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Raven said.

“Don’t forget to call the school pretending to be my mom,” Clarke replied.

“You think I’d forget about my own daughter?” Raven asked, in a fairly convincing impersonation of Abby Griffin.  “Later, loser.”

“Bye!” Clarke called as Raven got into the car.

Clarke walked inside the airport and got in line for security check.  It was going to be a long day, but so worth it.

x

It was around lunchtime when Lexa got a text from Clarke that day.

 **Clarke Griffin:** you ready for Sunday?

Lexa smiled to herself when she saw the message and quickly responded.

 **Lexa Woods:** Yes, definitely!!

“Is that Clarke?” Lincoln asked with a smirk.  “How is she?”

“Shut up,” Lexa glared at him.  After a moment, she added.  “I’m gonna see her Sunday, I think.”

“Wow, Sunday?” Lincoln asked.  Something about his tone of voice sounded suspicious.

Lexa glared at him again.  “What do you know?”

Lincoln’s eyes widened.  “What are you talking about?”

“You sound suspicious.  You know something.  Tell me.”

Lincoln quickly stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and gathered up his stuff.  “I, uhh, I gotta go,” he mumbled.  “See you at my game after school?  Octavia said she’d meet you by the snack stand in front of the bleachers.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Lexa called after him as he left.

“And then there were two,” Bellamy said, as he munched on some fries.

“Do you know what’s going on with them?” Lexa sked.

Bellamy shook his head, clearly just as baffled as Lexa.  “I have no idea.”  Lexa took another bite of here sandwich and shared a shrug with Bellamy.

Their last class together dragged on, and Bellamy could tell that Lexa was bored.  They started passing a sheet of notebook paper back and forth where they added to an increasingly ridiculous drawing of Lincoln and Octavia, including unibrows, devil horns, and missing teeth.  It was immature, but it made them stifle laughter when the teacher was looking.  Bellamy promised he would give it to Octavia later so she could see their handiwork.

After school, Lexa took her time making her way to the lacrosse field.  She usually tried to make it to at least one of Lincoln’s games of the season, but sports weren’t really her choice of pastime.  At least she would have Octavia to keep her company, and maybe she’d buy herself some popcorn.

Lexa walked up to the snack stand where a crowd was slowly gathering for the game.  She spotted Octavia quickly because she had on a foam finger and was waving it erratically at Lexa.  She also spotted a blonde girl next to Octavia, carrying some popcorn and a soda.  Lexa squinted, not believing her eyes, but when she approached them, it became very clear that her eyes were not playing tricks on her.

“Clarke?” Lexa asked, taking in the sight of the girl in front of her that she had only seen before through the screen of her phone or her laptop.  Clarke gave her a shy wave.

“Hey Lexa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! Maybe I should just stick to once a week, cause I'm really bad at more than that. I've also been distracted by WayHaught so I've been writing for them a lot instead of this. Anyway, SORRY for the cliffhanger!!! But enjoy the chapter :) Thanks again for all your feedback and everything, you guys are amazing.


	23. Chapter 23

Lexa was completely caught off guard.  She wasn’t expecting to see Clarke for another few days, but suddenly, here she was, at her school, staring at her, waiting for a reaction.

Lexa blinked, and her mouth fell open.  She didn’t know what to say.  She didn’t have time to prepare.  Lexa’s mind started racing.  _What am I wearing?  Did I put on make-up today?  My hair must be a mess right now!_   But then Clarke smiled and all her worries fell to the back of her mind.

Clarke was _here_.  And Clarke was here to see _her_.

“Oh my god!” was all that Lexa could think to say.  “I don’t even—what?”  She probably sounded like a fool stuttering like that, but Lexa didn’t care.  All she could think about was how much more beautiful Clarke looked in person and, wow, she had it bad for this girl.

“Well, I had a couple problems with my flight,” Clarke said dismissively.  “But I figured it out and was scheduled to arrive a couple days earlier.  I needed to tell O because she was my ride from the airport, but I thought it would be fun to surprise you.”

Lexa couldn’t stop smiling.  She probably looked like an idiot.  “Well, I am very surprised,” she sighed.  They laughed.  “Wow,” Lexa muttered.  “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“I would hug you, but my hands are kinda full,” Clarke said with a shrug, gesturing to the popcorn and drink she carried.

“Do you want some help?” Lexa asked, as she stepped forward to grab something from her hands.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Clarke said, waving her off.

Lexa was persistent.  “No, I insist,” she said and tried to grab the soda, which promptly slipped out of both their hands and spilled all over Lexa’s shoes.

“Crap!” Clarke exclaimed, and immediately dropped the popcorn as well.  Her cheeks turned bright red.  “Fuck!”

“You guys are a mess,” Octavia said.  She sipped her own drink and watched in amusement as they fumbled over cleaning up the mess on the ground.  “Well, I’m gonna go grab us some seats before the stands fill up.  Have fun, kids!” she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

They shoved most of the popcorn back into the bucket and tossed it into the trash, and they also threw away the drink.  However, Lexa’s shoes were still sopping wet with…something.

“What is this?” Lexa asked, dabbing at her shoes with napkins.

“Mountain Dew,” Clarke said.  “I’m so sorry.  I have clean socks in O’s car if you want to borrow them?”

Lexa thought about denying the socks, but her own socks were wet and sticky and disgusting; there’s no way she would be able to stand wearing them the rest of the day.  “Yeah, thanks.”

“Come on,” Clarke said.  She grabbed Lexa’s hand and led her off to the parking lot.  Lexa looked at their joined hands and blushed.  Thankfully, Clarke didn’t notice.  “Sorry, by the way,” Clarke continued.  “About…that.  That was embarrassing.”  She looked over her shoulder at Lexa and offered her an apologetic smile.

“No, no, it was my fault too,” Lexa said.

“Nah,” Clarke replied.  “I was being stubborn.”

They approached a car, and Clarke typed in the unlock code in the keypad.  The car beeped, and she went to the trunk to grab her suitcase.  She rummaged through it until she pulled out a pair of socks that had hot dogs on them.  Lexa noticed the pattern when she held them out and giggled.  “Hot dogs?”

“Hey, don’t judge,” Clarke muttered.  “These are my favorite socks!”

Lexa just smirked at her and snatched the socks from her hand.  She took off her shoes and socks, put the dirty ones in her backpack, and put on the new ones.  “Ok that’s way better,” Lexa said.  She wiggled her toes a little.  “Thank you, Clarke.”

“No problem.”

Lexa quickly tied her shoes and stood up.  “Let’s go, Octavia will be waiting for us,” she said, and started to walk off.

“Wait,” Clarke said, and grabbed her wrist.  Lexa turned around and looked at her.  Clarke opened her mouth, as if to say something, before shutting it again.  She studied Lexa’s face, and then smiled.  Clarke threw her arms around Lexa and pulled her into an embrace.  Lexa was surprised at first, but relaxed and returned Clarke’s hug.  She smelled like roses.  “It’s really good to see you,” Clarke whispered into her ear, and Lexa felt a chill run down her spine.

“You too,” Lexa said.

They pulled apart after a moment.  “Sorry,” Clarke muttered.  “I just—god—it’s really cool that you’re like, here!  Or I guess that _I’m_ here.  Seeing you.  I’ll stop talking.”

Lexa smiled endearingly at Clarke and shook her head.  “No, I get it.  I’m glad you’re here.”

“Really?” Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded in affirmation.  “Yes,” she said.  “This was the best surprise.”

And for a moment, neither girl could look away from the other.  They stayed, a little too close to each other, neither one moving away, until Lexa felt her gaze drop down to Clarke’s lips.  She quickly jerked her head away and took a step back.

“Octavia’s waiting for us,” she said.  Clarke frowned a little, but nodded, and joined Lexa walking back to the field.

As they passed the snack stand, Lexa turned to Clarke again.  “Let me buy you a replacement popcorn and a drink!”

“What?” Clarke scoffed.  “No, I can buy my own food.”

“It’s the least I can do for letting me borrow your socks,” Lexa said.

“No, Lexa, I can get my own popcorn!  I’ll buy you one too.”

“Or,” Lexa started, “I’ll buy you a popcorn and you can share with me?”  She gave Clarke a flirtatious smile.

Lexa didn’t know where the brazen attitude came from, but it worked because Clarke returned her smirk and held out her hand.  “You’ve got yourself a deal,” she said, and they shook on it.  “I’ll get a drink to share, then.  You like Mountain Dew?”

Lexa frowned.  “Not even a little,” she said.  “How about lemonade?”

“Works for me.”

Five minutes later they joined Octavia in the stands toting their fresh snacks.  When Lexa noticed that Clarke had only gotten one straw for their drink, she blushed.

“Finally you’re here!” Octavia exclaimed when she saw Clarke and Lexa and waved them over.  “I thought I was going to have to fight someone for these seats.  What took you guys so long?”

“Replacements,” Clarke said as she held up the snacks they had bought.

“That’d better be to share,” Octavia said, and reached for some popcorn.  Clarke pulled the box away and made a clicking sound with her tongue.

“Nope!  Only with Lexa,” she replied.  Lexa smiled and grabbed a handful of popcorn from Clarke.

Octavia met eyes with Lexa and suggestively wiggled her eyebrows, eliciting a glare.  Lexa was tempted to flip her off but she thought Clarke might notice if she did.

Lexa watched the two longtime friends interact and felt a little out of place, but only a little.  Obviously when people have known each other as long as Clarke and Octavia did, they would already have an established relationship and be comfortable with each other, whereas Lexa was still trying to figure out where she stood with Octavia, and even with Clarke.  But she watched as Clarke threw her popcorn at Octavia and they laughed and talked and joked like old friends, because that’s what they were.

They both did their best to include Lexa, but most inside jokes just aren’t funny to outsiders.

Lexa was grateful when the game started because she no longer felt like much of a third wheel.

Lincoln’s lacrosse games were always fun for Lexa to attend.  They were exciting and action-packed, and she loved being there to support her best friend.  Clarke had never even met Lincoln, but as soon as Octavia pointed him out, there were three girls in the stands screaming his name whenever anything happened.

Usually Lexa could follow along in Lincoln’s games fairly well, despite not being athletically inclined herself.  Unfortunately, today, Clarke sitting next to her posed a very large distraction.  Every time their shoulders brushed, Lexa could feel herself tense up.  She would glance at Clarke to see if she was having a similar reaction, but Clarke would just continue on like normal, watching the game, and cheering for Lincoln.  However, she thought she caught Clarke staring at her once when she thought Lexa wasn’t paying attention.

Sometimes, when something good happened, Clarke got excited and placed a hand on Lexa’s leg, and Lexa found it hard to breathe.

After the game, Octavia rushed out of the stands to find Lincoln, leaving Clarke and Lexa alone again.  Nervous and awkward, Lexa had no idea what to say.  “Good game, huh?” she asked, then internally groaned at herself.

Clarke smiled regardless.  “It was,” she replied.  “I’ve never been to a lacrosse game before though, so I had no idea what was going on.”

“I’ve been to a handful of Lincoln’s games so I’ve picked up a little knowledge about the game,” Lexa said.  “He’s really good.”

“Maybe you could teach me sometime,” Clarke said, with a flirtatious smirk.  Lexa blinked.  She opened her mouth but could not formulate a reply and no words came out.  Instead, she opened and closed her mouth a few times before Clarke laughed.  She grabbed Lexa’s hand and walked out of the stands.  “Come on, let’s go find the lovebirds.”

They found Lincoln and Octavia making out against Octavia’s car.  The couple didn’t even notice that Lexa and Clarke had arrived until Clarke cleared her throat and they jumped apart.

“Took you long enough,” Octavia muttered.  She turned to Lexa.  “We’re all going out to eat, do you wanna come with?”

Lexa wasn’t expecting to do anything tonight so she hadn’t dressed for it, and she was still wearing Clarke’s hot dog socks.  “Umm,” she started.  She looked down at herself and shrugged.

“It’s totally casual, Lexa, you’re fine,” Octavia reassured.

“You should come, Lex!” Clarke said.  Then, she put on her best pout face.  “Pleeeease?”

Lexa wasn’t sure if it was Clarke’s use of her nickname, or the pout that looked absolutely adorable on her, but she found herself agreeing, and she hopped in the back of Octavia’s car, squished next to Clarke.

The trip to the diner almost felt like a double date.  They claimed a booth in the back, and Lincoln and Octavia sat on one side acting all cute and couple-y, while Clarke and Lexa were crammed in the other side, shoulders brushing, acting awkward and giddy.

Every time their knees brushed, which happened often, Lexa would tense up.  Once she caught Clarke smirking after Lexa let out a shaky breath when their knees touched, and Lexa started to suspect that she was doing it on purpose.

Lexa wasn’t too hungry, so she shared a thing of chili cheese fries with Clarke, and they watched and gagged as Lincoln and Octavia fed each other fries and shared a milkshake.

“God, get a room,” Clarke said with a frown.

“We would, but I’m sharing my room with my best friend this week,” Octavia quipped back.

“Gross.”

“There’s always my room,” Lincoln offered.

“Gross,” Lexa muttered.

Clarke caught Lexa’s eye and they shared a small smile.  The friends continued to chat late into the afternoon.  When Lexa finally checked her phone she had a text from her mom, wondering where she was, and her eyes saw the time.

“Shit,” she muttered.

“Everything okay?” Clarke asked.

Lexa looked up at her and nodded.  “Yeah, it’s fine, I just didn’t realize how late it was.  My mom is wondering where I am.  I should probably get going.”

“I can drive you back to school?” Octavia asked.

Lexa shook her head.  “No, I live close, I can walk from here.”

Clarke gave Octavia a look and Octavia cleared her throat and said, “Oh, um, I can drive you home.  If it’s not far.”

Lexa smiled, but declined.  “No, honestly I’m used to walking.  It won’t take me long, I promise.”  Octavia looked like she was about to protest, so Lexa continued.  “Seriously, don’t worry about it.  Thank you, though.”  She stood up from their booth, grabbed her backpack, and swung it over her shoulder.  “Today was fun,” Lexa said, this time, looking at Clarke.

“Yeah,” Clarke replied with a grin.  “Super fun.  Awesome sauce.”

Lexa giggled.  “I’ll see you guys later,” she said and waved as she walked away.

“We still on for Sunday, right?” Octavia asked.  “Movie night?”

“Of course!”

“Text me when you’re home?” Clarke requested.

Lexa felt herself smile.  “Yeah, of course,” she said again.

She couldn’t contain her grin as she walked out of the diner and down the street.

Lexa arrived home ten minutes later and texted Clarke that she was home safe, who immediately responded with a thumbs up and a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to sincerely apologize for the delay on this chapter! A lot of things came up in these last couple of weeks and I just lacked both the time and motivation to finish it for a while. Ideally I would like to continue to post at least once a week but please don't hate me if I can't keep up with that schedule! I'm trying my best and I do want to finish this fic, but I also want to make sure it's good when you guys read it. Thank you so much for your continued support for this story and reading all your amazing comments is why I keep writing! I also realize this sounds very formal probably because I wrote a bunch of emails today so... um. Let me make it not formal. Boobz. There we go
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter in which Clarke and Lexa are clumsy nerds and totally head over heels for each other! Don't forget to comment, like, share, and follow me on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa go on a sort of date.

“You and Lexa need to stop eye fucking in such public places,” Octavia said to Clarke once they arrived back at her house and shut her bedroom door.

Clarke scoffed.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  Internally, however, she was excited about the possibility of Lexa looking at her like that.  She kicked off her shoes and jumped onto Octavia’s bed.

“Sure you do,” Octavia replied.  “You’re way too obvious not know what you’re doing.”

“Clarke rolled her eyes and tried to change the subject.  “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” she asked.

Octavia shrugged.  “Officially?  Nothing.  You and Raven weren’t supposed to come until tomorrow night so most of the day is free until Raven gets her ass over here.”  Clarke nodded, gears turning in her head.  “You know, Lexa’s usually free on the weekends,” Octavia added mischievously.  “You should ask her out.”

“Ask her out, like, on a date?” Clarke asked.

“Um, yeah,” Octavia explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “I’m almost certain she’d say yes.”

“Almost?”

“Damn it, Clarke, just ask her out already!” Octavia exclaimed.

Clarke sighed and grabbed her phone.  She started typing out a text message to Lexa.  She read it over, then deleted it with a sigh.  She typed out another message but deleted it before she was even finished writing it out.  Instead, she turned to Octavia and said, “Get out.”

“What?  Why?”  Octavia frowned.

“Because I’m going to call her and I don’t want you staring at me the entire time.”

Octavia gave her best pout, but Clarke continued to glare at her until Octavia dejectedly trudged out of the room.  Clarke brought up Lexa’s contact information on her phone and stared at it for a moment.  Clarke had no contact photo for Lexa – something she mentally vowed to fix before she left DC at the end of the week.  Clarke frowned and pushed the thought of leaving out of her mind.  Then she took a deep breath and called Lexa.

Lexa picked up on the fourth ring just as Clarke was about to give up thinking she would answer and was already planning an awkward voicemail in her head.

“Clarke?” Lexa sounded surprised, but definitely not disappointed to hear from her.

“Hey, Lexa, how are you?” Clarke asked.

“I’m about the same as I was when I saw you an hour ago.”

“Right,” Clarke said with a nervous chuckle.  “Actually, I’m calling because I was wondering if you’re free tomorrow.”

“Um, I think so,” Lexa replied.  “Why?”

“Well, Raven doesn’t get in until tomorrow night and Octavia’s, uhh, busy, yeah she’s umm…hanging out with Lincoln.  And so I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, hang out?  With me.”

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening as she waited for Lexa’s response which came in one word.  “Sure.”

“Really?” Clarke asked, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.

“Yeah,” Lexa said.  “What did you have in mind?”

Clarke froze.  “See the thing is, I hadn’t thought that far ahead, and I don’t know anything to do around here, so…”

Lexa laughed softly.  “So I’m in charge of the activities?” she asked.

“Pretty please?” Clarke said.  “I promise the pleasure of my company will make it worth your while.”

Clarke listened to the silence on the other end of the line again as Lexa thought about it.  “Do you want to meet for lunch?  And then we can take Minnie to the park, since I know you’re dying to meet her.”

Clarke smiled.  “That sounds perfect.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Lexa said.  “Text you the details?”

“Yeah,” Clarke replied.  “See you, Lexa.”

“Bye, Clarke.”

The call ended with a click, and Clarke fell back against Octavia’s bed with a contented sigh.  The door immediately flew open as Octavia barged back into the room and jumped onto the bed next to Clarke.

“You were listening at the door, weren’t you?” Clarke asked.

“Yup.”

Clarke reached over for a pillow and smacked her friend in the face with it.

“I’ve missed you too, Clarke.”

They heard the front door open and Clarke sat upright.  “Is that Bell?” she asked.  Before Octavia could answer, her bedroom door flew open again.

“Princess!” Bellamy exclaimed.  “I heard you were coming in early!”

Clarke jumped out of bed and ran over to hug him.  “God, I’ve missed you guys.”

“I’ve missed you too,” he said, hugging her back.  “So, how’s your girlfriend?  You seen her yet?”

Clarke immediately pulled away from the hug and glared at him.  “I retract my earlier statement.  I hate you.”

“They’re going on a date tomorrow!” Octavia interjected with a squeal.  A pillow hit her in the face again.

“I hate both of you.”

Later that night, Clarke got a text from Lexa with the girl’s address and a time, asking Clarke to meet her there.  It took a little convincing to get Octavia to drive her there (and it was a little weird to not have a car and to rely on others for transportation) but Clarke was excited regardless.

Saturday at noon, while on their way to Lexa’s house, Clarke realized something.  “Should I have clarified that this is a date?” she gasped.

“You didn’t tell her it’s a date?”

“I don’t think so?” Clarke began to think back to their conversation.  “I just asked her to hang out.  She probably thinks it’s just a friend thing.  Octavia, what do I do?”  Clarke started to panic even more when the car turned into a neighborhood.

“Even if she’s clueless now, just let her know you’re interested somehow,” Octavia offered.

“And how am I supposed to do that?  I’ve tried all the text book flirting when we’ve been texting.”

“No idea,” Octavia said as she pulled up in front of Lexa’s house.  “Have fun!”

Clarke glared at Octavia and climbed out of the car.  She walked up to the front door of the house to knock, but Octavia still waited at the curb.  Clarke flipped her off and shooed her away.  She didn’t knock until Octavia was long gone.

Lexa opened the door and stepped outside quickly.  Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail with loose curls falling behind her, and she wore a green v neck that somehow matched her eyes perfectly.  Speaking of her eyes, Clarke was sure that she’s never seen a color so breathtaking before, and she wondered why she never noticed this in pictures or over skype.  Clarke couldn’t help but stare at her for a moment, until Lexa cleared her throat.

“Um, Clarke?” she asked.  “You ready?”

Clarke nodded quickly.  “Of course.”

Lexa stepped toward her with a smile.  “I hope you don’t mind walking, since I don’t have a car.  Sorry,” she said, a little embarrassed.

“No worries,” Clarke said, and touched her shoulder lightly, causing Lexa to blush.

Lexa cleared her throat again and took off walking, and Clarke had to jog to catch up with her.  “It’s not far, I promise,” she said.  “I hope you like crepes.”

The place really wasn’t very far, just outside of Lexa’s neighborhood.  The walk over was a little awkward.  Clarke’s mind was still turning to figure out how to let Lexa know she was interested, not to mention she really wanted to hold Lexa’s hand.  Clarke didn’t say much unless Lexa asked her something.  But soon enough, Lexa opened the door to the restaurant to let Clarke walk in before her.  Clarke muttered her thanks.

“How do you like DC so far?” Lexa asked as they got in line and grabbed some menus to look at and decide what to order.

Clarke looked up from where she was staring at her feet.  “Huh?  Oh, it’s good.  We haven’t seen much yet, since I just got here.  The company is great though.”  She decided to risk it and give Lexa a flirtatious wink.  The blush that colored Lexa’s cheeks was worth it.

“Still don’t know what Octavia has planned for you?” Lexa asked, looking back at her menu.

“Not a clue,” Clarke said.  “She’s being so secretive about everything.  Hopefully I get a little free time to spend with you.”  Lexa blushed again and Clarke was satisfied with herself.  “Red’s a good color on you,” she added, causing Lexa to turn even more red, if that were possible.

“What are you—I don’t—“

Thankfully, Lexa was saved from forming a more articulate response as she was next in line to order.  She told the cashier what she wanted, then paid and stepped aside to wait for Clarke.

Clarke decided on a ham and cheese and avocado melt that sounded delicious, although she was very tempted to just get dessert.  Strawberries and Nutella topped with whipped cream?  Yum.

“You’re on spring break too, right?” Clarke asked, once they found their table.  “Any fun plans?”

Lexa shook her head.  “Besides our movie night tomorrow, not really.  I have to be at rehearsals on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that’s only for a few hours.  My sister might be coming home for a few days but I’m not completely sure.”

“Anya?  Cool!  Do I get to meet her?”

Lexa chuckled.  “Funny, she said the same thing about you.”

“You told your sister about me?” Clarke asked in surprise.

“Umm,” Lexa started, but she was once again saved when the man at the counter called her number to grab her food.  Clarke huffed in frustration.  She wanted answers, and she wanted to know how Lexa felt about her, but Lexa wasn’t making it very easy.

Clarke’s number was called soon after and conversation lulled a little as they ate their food in content.  Clarke probably ate hers a little too fast, and felt a tiny food baby forming a bulge in her tummy.

“Oh that was so good,” Clarke moaned, rubbing her belly.  “I wish I could try one of those dessert crepes but I don’t think I could finish one on my own.”

“We could share one?” Lexa offered shyly.  “My treat.”

Clarke grinned.  It took them nearly five minutes to agree on a dessert, as Clarke gravitated toward the chocolatey ones while Lexa wanted the more fruity ones, but they finally agreed on a fruit mix with chocolate drizzle on top.  And it was delicious.

Clarke moaned with every bite she took, and Lexa watched her eat with an amused smile on her face.  “Are you always this loud when you eat?”

“Only when it’s something this delicious!” Clarke said, and punctuated it with another moan.  Lexa continued to watch her intently, taking small bites, and Clarke suddenly felt self-conscious.

They finished their dessert in relative silence.  “This place is amazing,” Clarke said.

Lexa smiled and led her out the door.  “I guess I want to make your time in DC worthwhile,” she offered.

Clarke couldn’t help the smitten grin that slipped onto her face as she looked at Lexa, smiling, nervously fidgeting with her hands, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.  “You don’t have to try too hard,” Clarke admitted.  She bumped her shoulder against Lexa’s lightly, playfully, and the two of them shared a smile.

Clarke stayed close to Lexa, with their shoulders close and fingers brushing lightly as they walked back to Lexa’s house.  Lexa didn’t try to move away from her, so Clarke took that as a good sign.

“Are you ready for the main event?” Lexa asked, as they got closer to her house.

“You mean meeting the coolest dog in the world?” Clarke replied.  “Duh!”

“She’s a little shy so it might take her a little while to warm up to you.”  Lexa turned up the driveway and headed for the front door.  She hesitated, then turned back to Clarke for a moment.  “Um, could you wait here?” she asked.  “I just don’t really know how to tell my parents that someone I met on the internet is coming into our house.”

Clarke laughed.  “Of course,” she said.  “No worries.”

Lexa sighed in relief.  “Ok, I’ll bring Minnie out then.”

Clarke waited, somewhat impatiently, for Lexa to return with her dog.  It was a few minutes before Lexa exited her house, leash in hand, dog attached to it, and a yellow tennis ball in her other hand.

“Clarke, this is Minerva,” Lexa said, formally introducing the two.  (Clarke thought it was kind of adorable).  “Minnie, this is Clarke.”

Just as Lexa warned, Minnie was a little shy.  She didn’t approach Clarke at first and kept her ears back and her tail down.  Clarke crouched down to her level and held out her hand for the dog to sniff.  “Hey, Minnie,” she said softly.  “It’s nice to meet you.”

Minnie cautiously approached Clarke and sniffed her hand.  After a moment, she stepped closer to Clarke, put her front paws on her shoulders, and licked her square in the face, tail wagging side to side.

“Ack!” Clarke gasped.

“Minnie, get off!” Lexa said.  Minnie jumped back down and looked up at Lexa with her innocent eyes.  Lexa frowned.  Then, Minnie took another step closer to Clarke and put her head in Clarke’s hand, begging to be pet.  “Huh,” Lexa muttered.

“Hm?” Clarke hummed questioningly.  She grinned as she pet Minnie’s head and scratched behind her ears.

“Nothing,” Lexa said.  “She just usually doesn’t warm up to people that fast.”

“Maybe she knows how much you like me,” Clarke said with a grin.  She didn’t miss the red that colored Lexa’s cheeks, again.

Instead of acknowledging Clarke’s comment, Lexa just said, “Let’s get to the park.”

The park also wasn’t too far, and they found a nice spot to sit and throw the ball for Minnie to chase after.  Clarke sat close enough to Lexa for their arms to be casually touching, and close enough to see the way the sunlight reflected in the green of her eyes and _seriously how had she not noticed how green they were before_?  Clarke shook the thought out of her head and looked back at the dog that ran toward them with a red tennis ball in her mouth.

Lexa took the ball from her and looked at it curiously, immediately noticing the change in color.  “Uh, Minnie, where did you get this?”  They looked over, and saw a man and his dog running toward them, holding their yellow tennis ball.  “Sorry!” Lexa called out to him.  They exchanged balls and continued the game of fetch with Minnie.

Clarke went back to staring at Lexa.

After a moment, Lexa looked over and caught her eye.  “What are you looking at?” she asked.

Clarke shook her head.  “Nothing, I just…”  She sighed, and bumped Lexa’s shoulder.  “It’s just really good to see you.”

“You too, Clarke,” Lexa replied with a smile, unable to tear her eyes away from Clarke’s gaze.

Clarke took a chance and reached out, placing her hand on top of Lexa’s on the grass.  “You know, I’m really glad I met you.  In the context of, you know, meeting in real life, but also I’m really glad we started talking.  And that I know you.  Because you’re really cool and cute and I—“

“You think I’m cute?” Lexa asked softly.

“Well, yeah,” Clarke sighed.  “I’ve told you before.”

“I know, but it’s different hearing it in person.”

Clarke’s heart pounded in her ears.  She hadn’t explicitly told Lexa how she felt, but it was heavily implied with all her flirting, and Lexa was being nothing but encouraging.  And being this close to her was intoxicating.  Clarke’s eyes drifted down to where her hand was still on top of Lexa’s, their fingers ever so slightly intertwined.  She brushed her thumb against Lexa’s.

Lexa had the softest smile, and suddenly Clarke’s eyes were drawn to her lips.  She felt like she couldn’t breathe.  By the time Clarke looked back to Lexa’s eyes, they were much closer than she had remembered.  When did she move?  And was Lexa leaning in too?

Clarke’s eyes fluttered shut.  She felt Lexa’s breath on her own lips and she could swear her chest was going to explode with how fast her heart was beating.

” _I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world!_ ”

Clarke almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of her own ringtone.  She quickly yanked her phone out of her pocket and checked the caller ID: Mom.  She groaned.

Clarke risked a glance over at Lexa, who looked a little dazed and surprised, definitely not paying attention to Clarke.

Clarke cleared her throat to catch Lexa’s attention.  “It’s my mom,” she said.

“Oh,” Lexa said quietly.  She frowned.  “You should take it.”

“I knew you would say that,” Clarke sighed.  She took a deep breath, then answered.  “Hey, mom!  What’s up?”

“Clarke Marie Griffin, where the _hell_ are you?”

“Um… DC?” Clarke said.  There was no use in lying, and she was already there.  It’s not like her mom would jump on a flight to DC just to bring her back to California.

“I thought I cancelled your ticket!”

“You did,” Clarke replied.

“Any explanation?” Abby asked.  Clarke could practically hear the anger dripping from her voice.  “I come home from an overnight shift to find that my daughter hasn’t been seen since Thursday!”

“I had some money saved up, so I bought a new ticket,” Clarke said, which was mostly true.  She wouldn’t mention the money that was donated.  She tried to remain nonchalant in her tone, but she knew that if her mom kept pushing, she would break.

“Clarke,” her mom said, in that quiet mom voice that made you want to do exactly what she asked for fear of losing a limb.  “I need you to come home, immediately.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, mom,” Clarke continued, frustration and annoyance building inside her.  “I’m not coming home.  Not until my flight back at the end of the week.  I know you’re upset about the art school thing, but this is exactly why I didn’t tell you!  I knew you wouldn’t approve and I knew you’d do something drastic!  I know you and I know that you never care about what _I_ want.  It’s always what _you_ want for me, and I know you’re just trying to be a good mom or whatever, but why not try supporting _me_ for once?”

Instead of a reply, there was only silence on the other end of the line.

Clarke rolled her eyes.  “See you next week, mom.”  And with that, she hung up the phone.

Clarke made sure to put her phone on silent so she wouldn’t be disturbed by any further phone calls from her mother.  She pulled her knees up to her chest to rest her head on them and took a shaky breath.

A moment later, she felt Lexa scoot closer and put a comforting arm around her.  “Are you okay?” she asked, and her soft voice was enough to calm Clarke down immediately.

Clarke looked up at Lexa and saw the genuine concern in her eyes.  She nodded and sat upright.  Minnie trotted over and laid down next to them, placing her head in Clarke’s lap.  Clarke smiled and stroked her soft fur.  “I am now,” she said.

Silence fell between them for a moment, not awkward, but deafening.  “You never told me your mom cancelled your flight,” Lexa said with a frown.  “Is it because she saw the letter?”

Clarke nodded.  “Blew my whole savings and then some to come out here.”

“Why?”

Clarke turned her head to meet Lexa’s eyes again and smiled softly.  “Because I wanted to see you.”

Suddenly, Lexa’s arms were around Clarke in a tight hug.  Clarke was surprised, but put her arms around Lexa’s back and pulled her closer.  She buried her face in Lexa’s neck and took a deep breath; the subtle scent of vanilla and cinnamon was there.

Maybe Clarke was broke now.  Maybe her mom hated her.  Maybe she would never go to art school.  But being here, in Lexa’s arms, made everything okay again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I'm still working on this fic! This was a fun chapter to write and I've got some fun stuff planned for the rest of Clarke's stay in DC. Thanks so much for reading and for all your amazing comments! You have no idea how much it means to me. Until next time! Keep in touch on tumblr @tatianathevampireslayer


	25. Chapter 25

It was a weird afternoon.  Clarke and Lexa didn’t stay at the park very long after the phone call from Clarke’s mom.  They walked back to Lexa’s house in an awkward silence, standing far apart on the sidewalk, as Minnie trotted at their feet.

Lexa wanted to say something, but there wasn’t much she could say.  She wanted to tell Clarke that everything would be okay, but there was no way for Lexa to know if that was true.  She wanted to tell Clarke that her mom would come around eventually, but she could be wrong about that too.  She wanted to know exactly what to say to make Clarke feel better.

Mostly, Lexa wanted to kiss her and maybe make her forget about what had her so upset in the first place, but that one was a very bad idea.

Maybe Lexa could invite her inside to wait for her ride when they got back to her house.  Her parents would be confused but she could deal with them later.  Lexa could make her a cup of tea and tell Clarke that she’s here for her.

But Lexa’s plan was ruined when she saw that Octavia was already waiting for Clarke outside her house.  She frowned when Octavia waved from her car.

“I texted Octavia when we left the park,” Clarke explained.  “I’m sorry, I just…”

“Don’t apologize,” Lexa said.  “It’s not your fault your mom ruined the afternoon.”

Clarke frowned.  “She didn’t ruin it.  I still had a good time.”

“Yeah?” Lexa asked.  Clarke nodded.  “Me too.”  They walked up to Lexa’s porch, just barely out of Octavia’s line of sight.

“I really am sorry, though,” Clarke said.  “About my mom.  I hope I can make it up to you.”

Lexa shook her head and smiled softly at Clarke.  “You don’t have anything to make up for.”

“Just let me, ok?” Clarke asked.

Lexa sighed.  “Ok,” she felt herself say.

Clarke grinned, and quickly kissed her on the cheek.  Before Lexa could even react, Clarke was halfway down the driveway to Octavia’s car.

“Bye, Lex!” she called over her shoulder.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lexa stood on her porch, frozen, the place where Clarke’s lips touched her cheek was still tingling.  “Bye,” Lexa breathed, but Clarke was already too far to hear her.  She let out a heavy sigh and made her way into the house, where she ran smack into Anya.

“Anya?” Lexa asked.  “What are you doing here?”

“Was that her?” Anya asked as she looked out the door and over Lexa’s shoulder.  “Clarke?”

Lexa glared at her.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Anya said.  “That was her.  She’s cute!  And super into you.”

Lexa felt herself smile again as she thought about the afternoon.  “I guess she is.”

“Okay, details sis.  What happened?”

“That is none of your business,” Lexa said and brushed past Anya.  She made her way to her room and closed the door as Anya followed her.

“You can’t hide from me forever!” Anya shouted through the door.

“Try me.”

Lexa finally had a moment alone and she collapsed onto her bed with a wistful sigh.  Did that really just happen?  This afternoon had been amazing and she hadn’t wanted it to end.  If she thought she had a crush on Clarke before, now she knew she was definitely head over heels for the girl.  She loved talking to her, and looking at her, and just simply being with her.

x

Clarke was vehemently ignoring Octavia’s persistent interrogation in the car.  At least, until she realized that they had completely passed Octavia’s house.

“Uhh, O?” Clarke asked.  “Where are we going?”

“The airport, dummy,” Octavia said.  “Do you even know what time it is?”  Clarke shook her head.  “It’s almost five.  Raven’s flight is coming in soon.”

“Oh shit, really?”

“Yeah,” Octavia said.  “I can’t believe you were making heart eyes at Lexa for that long.”

“And that’s where I leave this conversation.”

“Oh, come _on_ Clarke!  You’re not going to tell me anything?”

“I told you I had a nice time,” Clarke said defensively.  “What more do you want to know?”

Clarke did not particularly want to share the phone call from her mom and how she broke down and how Lexa just held her for a while.  It felt a little too personal to share, even with her best friend.  It was something important that Clarke shared with Lexa, and Lexa alone.  She didn’t want to bring anyone else into that moment.

Octavia continued to pester her for the rest of the drive to the airport, but Clarke simply ignored her.  Clarke ignored her all the way to the passenger arrivals at the airport.

As soon as Octavia saw Raven, though, she forgot all about Lexa.  Raven appeared with a suitcase rolling behind her and Octavia disappeared from Clarke’s side and reappeared a moment later as she tackled Raven with a hug.

“OH MY GOD YOU’RE HERE!” Octavia squealed, crushing Raven’s bones in the tightest hug known to man.

“ _Can’t… breathe…._ ” Raven choked out.

Clarke joined them, but let the two have their moment.  She had seen both of them recently, whereas Octavia and Raven hadn’t seen each other in months.  After a moment, Octavia pulled both of them into a hug at the same time.  “I just can’t believe we’re all together again!  God, I’ve missed you guys.”

“We’ve missed you too, O,” Raven said, hugging back.

“So much,” Clarke confirmed.

It must’ve been a sight for other travelers: three teenage girls enveloped in a tight group hug that wouldn’t end.

Raven and Octavia spent the entire drive back to Octavia’s house catching up on things they hadn’t talked about since they last saw each other.  Most of it is stuff Clarke has already heard from both of them, so she got out her phone and looked at her conversation with Lexa.  She wanted to say something but couldn’t think of anything.  Instead, she kept typing a few letters, and deleting them again.

“So how was your date?”

The question from Raven drew Clarke from her thoughts.  “What?”

“Your date.  With Lexa.”

Clarke glared at Octavia, who just shrugged innocently.  “Hey, she was bound to find out eventually.”

Clarke sighed, and said, “It was nice… We almost kissed, but then my mom called and ruined the moment.”

Raven replied with, “Oh, shit, your mom?”

While, at the exact same time, Octavia gasped, “So you tell _her_ after I’ve spent the last _hour_ trying to get any details on your date?!”

“I didn’t want to have to go over it twice,” Clarke said.

Octavia frowned.  “Still, rude.”

“Dude, what happened with your mom?” Raven asked, concerned.

Clarke shrugged.  “She’s pissed, but I told her off and then hung up.  So that might come bite me in the ass later, but whatever.  I just want to enjoy my vacation.”

“Just ignore all her calls and maybe next time you can _actually_ kiss Lexa,” Octavia said with a smirk.

“Shut up.”

x

Despite her initial protests, Lexa spent the night catching up with her sister and updating her on “The Clarke Situation,” as Anya liked to call it.  As much of an asshole Anya could be sometimes, she loved her, and she was the most supportive sister Lexa could ask for.

“So if you guys are both so _clearly_ into each other, why haven’t you made out with her yet?” Anya questioned.

Lexa rolled her eyes at her sister’s tact.  “I don’t know,” Lexa muttered.  “I like her, but long distance is what drove me and Costia apart.  I don’t know if I could take that again.”

“Yeah, but the distance is also what brought you and Clarke together,” Anya replied.

Lexa sighed.  Anya was only a year older than her, but she hated how wise she could be sometimes.  “I guess.”

“Lex, you have got to let yourself be happy.  You’re gonna get frown lines.”

Lexa laughed and swatted Anya with a pillow.  Just then, her phone buzzed with a text message from Lincoln.

**Lincoln:** _I’m bringing chips tomorrow.  So bring a different snack._

Lexa smiled and quickly texted back.

**Lexa:** _I was going to bring fruit._

**Lincoln:** _Lame_

**Lexa:** _How’s Octavia?_

**Lincoln:** _fine I guess? Haven’t seen her since after the game_

Lexa frowned at his message.  Hadn’t Clarke said that Octavia had a date with Lincoln earlier today?

**Lexa:** _Really?_

**Lincoln:** _Yea why?_

**Lexa:** _No reason_

If Octavia wasn’t with Lincoln today, that meant Clarke lied.  It also meant that she wanted to spend time with Lexa, and not that she didn’t have anything better to do.  She sighed.  Anya was right; she needed to get her shit together before she saw Clarke again.

Anya fell asleep on Lexa’s bed that night, after hours of talking and catching up, they were both exhausted.

The next afternoon, Lincoln picked up Lexa to head over to Octavia’s house.  Lexa had a Tupperware container of watermelon chunks on her lap to share.

“You cut that up yourself?” Lincoln asked.

“Maybe,” Lexa said with a frown.  “There was a sale so my mom brought home four whole watermelons the other day.”

“Nice.”

They got to Octavia’s house and Lincoln knocked on the door.  Lexa’s heart thumped in her chest in anticipation of seeing Clarke again.  The door opened and Bellamy greeted them.

“Hey guys!” he said.  “Everyone’s in the living room.  Need any help?”

They both shook their heads and stepped into the house.  Bellamy led them to the living room and plopped down on the armchair in the room.  Lexa and Lincoln set down the snacks they brought on the coffee table.  Lincoln plopped down on the loveseat next to Octavia, leaving the only available spot for Lexa on the couch next to Clarke.

 _Did they plan this?_ Lexa thought to herself, but when Clarke smiled at her and patted the seat next to her, Lexa didn’t really care.  She plopped down next to Clarke on the couch and as soon as she did, Clarke nudged her shoulder with her own.

“Hey,” Clarke said, loud enough for only Lexa to hear.  “I missed you.”

Lexa smiled.  “You too.”

Octavia then interrupted by exclaiming, “Are you ready to lose your virginity?!”

“Titanic virginity,” Raven clarified.

“Just so you know, they take this very seriously,” Bellamy added.

“Oh, I’ve heard,” Lexa replied with a soft chuckle.  Although, all she noticed was how Clarke hadn’t stopped looking at her since she sat down.

They turned off the lights, and Octavia pressed play on the DVD.

As soon as the lights were off, Clarke’s hand moved to Lexa’s knee, and she was suddenly hypersensitive of Clarke’s presence right next to her.  She looked down at Clarke’s hand, and placed her own on top of it, giving it a little squeeze.  She looked to Clarke, whose eyes were now glued to the screen, but she saw Clarke’s lips twitch up into the smallest smile as she moved her hand back to her own lap, to Lexa’s slight disappointment.

Unfortunately, once Lexa looked at Clarke, she couldn’t bring herself to look away, even with the movie playing.  Honestly, the movie was just background noise at this point.  She liked the way Clarke smiled at different scenes in the movie, and the way Clarke looked with the light from the TV reflecting off her pale skin.  Lexa was entranced.  This was better than any movie.

Suddenly, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.  She looked down at the screen and found she had a text from Clarke.

**Clarke:** _As much as I love the attention, you should watch the movie_

Lexa frowned and then glared at Clarke.  Clarke, still watching the movie, just pointed to her phone, silently asking Lexa to text her response.

**Lexa:** _I am watching the movie!_

**Clarke:** _Oh yeah? What just happened?_

**Lexa:** _…_

**Clarke:** _watch the movie, cutie_

**Lexa:** _Well it’s not my fault the company is distracting_

**Clarke:** _Oh, it is, is it?_

**Lexa:** _Indeed._

**Clarke:** _How is the company distracting?_

Lexa thought about how to respond that for a moment, before deciding on just a few simple words.

 **Lexa:** _Too darn pretty_

The blush that colored Clarke’s cheeks was worth it.

**Clarke:** _ur right_

**Clarke:** _Raven is pretty hot_

Lexa snorted, against her will, and Clarke giggled.

“Would you two quit flirting and watch the damn movie?!” Octavia scolded.

Clarke and Lexa immediately quieted.

“Told you they take it seriously,” Bellamy muttered.

Lexa made an actual effort to pay attention the rest of the movie, and was successful for the most part, despite Clarke’s constant distractions.  Sometimes she would poke Lexa’s side, or put her hand on her knee again.  At one point, about halfway through the movie, Clarke put her arm around Lexa.  At first, Clarke’s arm just rested on the back of the couch behind her, but slowly it moved to wrap around her shoulders.  Eventually, Lexa found herself leaning into Clarke’s side, practically cuddling with her.  She was comfortable snuggled into Clarke’s side, close enough to smell her perfume.  Lexa was surprised she was able to keep paying attention to the movie after that.

The movie was pretty good, Lexa would admit, but she didn’t cry.  Maybe it was because she wasn’t paying attention for the first half hour of the movie.

Once the credits were rolling, Octavia flicked on the lamp.  Lexa was thankful none of her friends made any comment about her current position with Clarke on the couch.  “So, Lexa, what’d you think?”

“It was good,” Lexa said casually.

“Just _good_?” Raven scoffed, clearly offended.

“It was, uh, pretty good?” Lexa offered.

Raven just frowned.  “I bet you didn’t even cry.  Heartless bitch.”

Despite Raven’s deadpan voice, Lexa knew she was only poking fun.  “Pay no mind to Raven,” Clarke said.  “She’s just sensitive.”

“ _I am not!_ ”

“So, think we have time for one more movie?” Octavia suggested.

Everyone agreed, and after ten minutes of intense debate about what movie to watch next, they all finally settled on _Jaws_.

Ten minutes into the movie, Raven was snoring on the other side of the couch; traveling probably took a lot out of her.

Twenty minutes later, Octavia and Lincoln disappeared, probably to her bedroom to make out.  Fifteen minutes after that, Bellamy moved to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Lexa had seen the film before, but it was one of her favorites, as cheesy as it was.  It didn’t scare her, but Clarke jumped at a few of the startling parts, and adorably scrunched up her face when it was too suspenseful.  Lexa once again gave up on watching the movie to watch Clarke instead.

“You’re really cute,” she whispered, when Clarke wrinkled her nose at something happening in the movie.

Clarke turned her head to look at Lexa and smiled, soft and shy.  Lexa could still see the light from the TV dancing inside her eyes.

“You’re really beautiful,” Clarke whispered back.

Lexa’s nose brushed against Clarke’s, and she didn’t want to put this off anymore.  No more excuses, no more regrets, no more what-ifs.  Lexa took a deep breath and closed the space between them, kissing Clarke softly.  She felt Clarke’s sharp intake of breath against her lips in surprise.  When Clarke brought her hand up to gently caress Lexa’s cheek, Lexa breathed out a sigh.

Clarke’s lips parted ever so slightly, and her tongue just barely brushed out against Lexa’s bottom lip, sending shivers down Lexa’s spine.  Lexa kissed her again, more fully, and then pulled back.

Clarke’s head moved forward, chasing after Lexa’s lips after they were gone, and Lexa kissed her briefly again.

Lexa’s eyes fluttered open—she didn’t even remember closing her eyes—and she met Clarke’s heavy gaze.

“That was…” Clarke started, unsure of how to continue.

“Yeah,” Lexa breathed.

They shared a private smile, meant for just the two of them, and leaned in again.

“What’d I miss?” Bellamy called from the back of the room as he returned, and Clarke and Lexa quickly jumped apart.  Clarke landed on top of Raven, startling her awake.

“Where’s the bees?” Raven asked, sleepily.  “What’s going on?”

“We’re watching Jaws,” Clarke explained.  “They’re about to go hunting for the shark.”

Just then, Octavia and Lincoln returned, Lincoln’s shirt now on backwards and Octavia’s hair mussed in the back.

Clarke and Lexa exchanged an amused look as their friends joined them again for the rest of the movie.  Lexa smiled and shook her head, then turned her attention back to the movie.

A few minutes later, Lexa felt Clarke’s hand reach into her lap and grab her own hand.  Clarke intertwined their fingers, and their hands stayed clasped tightly together for the rest of the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 84 years.....I have no excuse except for MAJOR writer's block. Thank you all for being so patient, and I hope this chapter makes up for it! ;) I have outlined the rest of the story, so hopefully that will keep me on track with my writing but we'll see! Again, thank you for your patience and for not giving up on me or this fic. Thank you for reading and commenting and supporting me, you're all wonderful!!


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